Value of bedside ultrasound in evaluating disease severity and prognosis of patients with severe pneumonia

Objective To explore the value of bedside ultrasound in evaluating the disease severity and prognosis of patients with severe pneumonia (SP).

Methods The clinical data of 120 patients with SP admitted to the emergency intensive care unit (EICU) and intensive care unit (ICU) were retrospectively analyzed. All patients underwent bedside ultrasound after admission, and the pulmonary ultrasound score (LUS) was performed. Serum procalcitonin (PCT), C-reactive protein (CRP), arterial blood lactic acid(Lac) and oxygenation index of patients at admission were measured. The patients were divided into critical group and non-critical group according to the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Status Scoring System Ⅱ (APACHEⅡ) score at admission, and were divided into good prognosis group and poor prognosis group according to prognosis at discharge. LUS and laboratory indexes were compared in each group. The value of LUS in evaluating the severity and prognosis of SP patients was analyzed.

Results Among the 140 SP patients, 65 patients (54.17%) were not in critical condition at admission, 55 patients (45.83%) were in critical condition, 94 patients (78.33%) had good prognosis at discharge, and 26 patients (21.67%) had poor prognosis. The levels of LUS, PCT, CRP and Lac in the critical group were higher than those in the non-critical group, and the oxygenation index on admission was lower than that in the non-critical group (P < 0.05). The levels of LUS, PCT, CRP and Lac in the poor prognosis group were higher than those in the good prognosis group, and the value of oxygenation index was lower than that in the good prognosis group (P < 0.05). Pearson correlation analysis showed that LUS of SP patients was positively correlated with PCT, CRP and Lac(r=0.250, 0.412, 0.315, P < 0.05), was negatively correlated with oxygenation index (r=-0.235, P < 0.05). Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve showed that the area under the curve (AUC) of critical condition and poor prognosis of SP patients evaluated by LUS were 0.894 and 0.897 respectively, which had a certain value.

Conclusion Bedside ultrasound has high value in evaluating the severity and prognosis of SP patients.