title: Lung ultrasound B-lines in exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
abstract: We report on preliminary observations on performing lung ultrasound (LUS) in patients admitted to hospital with an exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We found that LUS had high specificity and moderate sensitivity in identifying patients with elevated B-type natriuretic peptide. Thus, we hypothesise that LUS may have utility in screening COPD patients with an exacerbation to identify the sub-group with elevated natriuretic peptides and are at risk of increased cardiovascular mortality. The use of LUS in patients with acute and chronic respiratory disorders is increasing and its role in COPD patients is an interesting subject for future research.
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Gold Coast University Hospital, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.|School of Medicine, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Krishna B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Sriram
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Gold Coast University Hospital, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.|School of Medicine, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.|School of Medicine, Bond University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Maninder
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Singh
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain / Q000097:blood; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000097:blood; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000097:blood / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014463:Ultrasonography
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D010446:Peptide Fragments; C109794:pro-brain natriuretic peptide (1-76); D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain
keywords: 
  COPD
  ; lung ultrasound; natriuretic peptide