Role of Chest Ultrasound in Diagnosing and Follow-up of Pneumonia

The primary target criterion is

• Assessing the sensitivity of chest ultrasound in diagnosing pneumonia.

Secondary target criteria comprise

• Assessing specificity, negative and positive predictive value of chest ultrasound at the time of diagnosing,
• Characterizing pneumonic infiltrates at the time of diagnosing and further course,
• Describing the association between clinical, X-ray and sonographic findings in the course of pneumonia.

The tertiary target criterion includes

• Characterizing the range of pathogens detected by microbiological examination.

Inclusion criteria

Patients with clinically suspected CAP who received no antibiotic treatment yet

• Patients in whom a chest X-ray in 2 planes was already performed, can be included in the study, if chest ultrasound is performed within 24 hours after X-ray and if the X-ray finding is neither available to nor known to the examiner doing the ultrasound examination.
• Age > 18 years
• Patient's declaration of consent is available.

Exclusion criteria

• Patients with HAP
• Age <18 years
• Patients in whom the time difference between chest ultrasound and chest X-ray in 2 planes is more than 24 hours
• Patients whose X-ray findings are with the examiner doing the ultrasound or are known to him
• Pregnancy and lactation
• Missing declaration of consent by the patient.