title: Can Chest Computed Tomography Be Replaced by Lung Ultrasonography With or Without Plain Chest Radiography in Pediatric Pneumonia?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to answer the following question: can chest computed tomography (CT) requested by pediatricians be replaced by lung ultrasonography (US) with or without chest radiography in pediatric pneumonia?
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 98 children with suspected pneumonia who were referred by pediatricians for CT examinations were prospectively studied. Levels of agreement between CT findings and plain radiography, lung US, and chest radiography plus lung US results were investigated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  CT defined pneumonia in 84 patients, among which 26 cases were complicated. κ values between radiography and CT findings were 0.82 in complicated cases, 0.67 in uncomplicated cases, and 0.72 overall. The corresponding values between US and CT findings were 1, 0.52, and 0.62, respectively, and between radiography plus US and CT findings were 1, 0.86, and 0.88, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CT can be replaced by US when complex effusions are present in children with pneumonia. In case of an ambiguous diagnosis of pediatric pneumonia with or without complex effusions, a combination of chest radiography and US is a reliable surrogate for chest CT.
authors.affiliation: *Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine †Drug Applied Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences ‡Neurosciences Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Parisa
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hajalioghli
authors.forename: Masoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nemati
authors.forename: Leila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dinparast Saleh
authors.forename: Daniel F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Fouladi
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008168:Lung / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014463:Ultrasonography