| Affiliation: | 1.Department of Medical Imaging,Nemours Children’s Health System, Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children,Wilmington,USA;2.Department of Radiology,Thomas Jefferson University,Philadelphia,USA;3.Pediatric Imaging Unit,Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Chaim Sheba Medical Center,Tel-Hashomer,Israel;4.Department of Medical Imaging/Radiology, Nemours Children’s Health System,Nemours Children’s Hospital, University of Central Florida,Orlando,USA |
| Abstract: | Chest ultrasonography is an important imaging adjunct for diagnosing and managing disease in children. Compared with CT and MRI, ultrasound is cheaper, portable and provides vascular or flow-related information that cannot otherwise be obtained noninvasively. The spatial and temporal resolution of ultrasound is excellent, particularly for superficial structures. In cases where a suspicious abnormality is found, tissue sampling can be performed percutaneously with US guidance. Ultrasound also excels at demonstrating and characterizing pleural fluid collections. As concerns about radiation exposure increase among laypersons and doctors alike, there is a compelling argument for making ultrasonography the initial imaging study of choice for many thoracic abnormalities in a child. In this review the authors discuss and illustrate the US findings of some of the more common chest complaints in children. |
