title: Diagnostic Performance of Point of Care Ultrasonography in Identifying the Etiology of Respiratory Distress in Neonates.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the diagnostic test performance of Point of care ultrasonography (PoC-USG) for identifying the etiology of respiratory distress (RD) in neonates when combination of radiological and clinical criteria is considered as the gold standard.
  
  
  METHODS
  A neonate was included in the study if he/she had RD and underwent x-ray chest and ultrasound within 4 h of admission and the age was less than 24 h. The neonates admitted with non-respiratory illness were chosen as controls. A trained neonatologist took trans-thoracic and trans-abdominal views and a radiologist, as per the defined criteria, did the interpretation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the study period, 63 neonates with RD and 31 control neonates were enrolled. Overall from the clinical-radiological findings, the final diagnosis was respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), transient tachypnea of newborn (TTNB) and pneumonia in 29, 33 and one infants respectively. The ultrasound diagnosis of respiratory distress was RDS in 30 infants and TTNB in 33 infants. Pneumonia was not a diagnosis in any of the infants on PoC-USG. The sensitivity and specificity of USG in the diagnosis of respiratory distress were 98.4% and 100% respectively. One infant with diagnosis of pneumonia on chest x-ray was interpreted as RDS on USG.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PoC-USG can be used to diagnose different etiologies of RD in neonates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neonatology, Fernandez Hospital, Hyderguda, Hyderabad, 500029, India.
authors.forename: Harish
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rachuri
authors.affiliation: Department of Neonatology, Fernandez Hospital, Hyderguda, Hyderabad, 500029, India.
authors.forename: Tejo Pratap
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Oleti
authors.affiliation: Department of Neonatology, Fernandez Hospital, Hyderguda, Hyderabad, 500029, India. srinivasmurki2001@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Srinivas
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Murki
authors.affiliation: Department of Neonatology, Paramita Children's Hospital, Hyderabad, India.
authors.forename: Sreeram
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Subramanian
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, MNJ Institute of Oncology and Regional Cancer, Hyderabad, India.
authors.forename: Jayalatha
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nethagani
mesh_terms: D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008471:Meconium Aspiration Syndrome / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems; D012127:Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Newborn / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology*; D059246:Tachypnea / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014463:Ultrasonography
keywords: Lung ultrasound; Neonate; Point of care; Respiratory distress