Transesophageal echocardiographic imaging of ultrasound lung rockets

摘要

CRITICAL care and emergency medicine physicians increas-..Jingly use thoracic ultrasound to assist in the diagnosis of alveolar interstitial syndrome (AIS).1 This heterogeneous group of conditions is characterized by fluid-thickened lung interstitium and includes cardiogenic and noncardiogenic pulmonary edema, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and interstitial pneumonia. The diagnosis of AIS with ultrasound is made by noting bilateral, diffuse reverberation artifacts termed ultrasound lung rockets (ULRs). These reverberation artifacts result from the repetitive back and forth reflection of the ultrasound beam between the fluid-thickened lung and interlobular septa and the lung edge.1"3 Vertical, comet-tail artifacts extending to the distal edge of the ultrasound image result. Single vertical comet-tail artifacts are termed B lines and may be noted in dependent areas of normal lung.