A comparative study on the usefulness of ultrasound versus hrct in the follow up of lid patients in a tertiary care hospital

Abstract

Introduction : The best imaging technique for determining ILD is HRCT. Consequently, a non-ionizing, precise, and affordable diagnostic instrument for ILD detection and follow-up is required. The current study has been carried out to assess the prognostic accuracy of trans-thoracic ultrasound scan over the gold-standard HRCT among patients diagnosed with ILD. newlineMaterial and Methods: Prospective cohort study was conducted among 67 diagnosed ILD patients. All the study subjects were subjected to initial baseline measurement of Spirometry, DLCO, 6MWT, Transthoracic Ultrasound, SGRQ, MMRC, HRCT, ECHO (if needed) and the progress of the disease was followed up with measurement of these parameters at an interval of 3 months for a duration of 1 year. newlineResults: ILD findings in USG was found to be more than or equal to five B lines in three or more chest areas, distance between the B lines as 4.35 +- 1.22, presence of pleural thickening, pleural irregularity, and sub pleural changes. FVC, DLCO, 6MWT at the baseline, 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th month of follow-up had negative correlation with statistical significance and SGRQ, MMRC values had positive correlations with number of B-lines (P lt 0.0001), with distance between B-lines (P lt 0.0001) and Pleural line thickness (P lt 0.0001). When compared to HRCT findings, our study found very low sensitivity in detecting disease progression by Transthoracic USG. newlineConclusion : . Even though the sensitivity of ultrasound in monitoring the disease progression is low when compared to HRCT, it can be utilized as a complementary tool when HRCT is not feasible/available. Still, HRCT remains the gold standard for monitoring ILD patients. Further studies with a large sample size and larger duration of follow-up are needed. newlineKeywords: Interstitial lung diseases, Thoracic ultrasound, gold standard, Pulmonary function parameters, High resolution CT chest. newline newline