FUJIFILM Sonosite's X-Porte was recently used in a study to assess the utility of lung ultrasound scores (LUSs) to predict extubation readiness in VLBW infants and determined the effect of postnatal steroids on LUSs in babies who were chronically ventilated for > 30 days. More recently, point-of-care lung ultrasound (LUS) in the neonatal intensive care unit has been validated as a straightforward and quick evaluation of lung aeration and oxygenation in neonates. Lung ultrasound quantifies the air/fluid ratio in the lung on a region-by-region basis, and has been validated against multiple measures of lung aeration. The thinness of the newborn chest wall makes identification of pleural lines, the ultrasound finding on which all evaluations are based, relatively easy. Lung ultrasound has already been shown to be useful in predicting the need for intubation and surfactant administration in preterm infants.
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Read about the study here.