Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Radiol. Sep 28, 2016; 8(9): 775-784
Published online Sep 28, 2016. doi: 10.4329/wjr.v8.i9.775
Thoracic ultrasound: An adjunctive and valuable imaging tool in emergency, resource-limited settings and for a sustainable monitoring of patients
Francesca M Trovato, Daniela Catalano, Guglielmo M Trovato
Francesca M Trovato, Accident and Emergency Department, Ospedale Civile, 97010 Ragusa, Italy
Francesca M Trovato, Daniela Catalano, Guglielmo M Trovato, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, 95124 Catania, Italy
Daniela Catalano, Postgraduate School of Clinical Echography, AOU Policlinico of the University of Catania, 95100 Catania, Italy
Guglielmo M Trovato, Clinical Research and Innovation Project Planning Unit, AOU Policlinico of the University of Catania, 95100 Catania, Italy
Author contributions: The paper was written by the authors stated.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No conflict of interest is declared in this invited manuscript.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Guglielmo M Trovato, MD, Clinical Research and Innovation Project Planning Unit, AOU Policlinico of the University of Catania, via Santa Sofia 78, 95100 Catania, Italy. guglielmotrovato@unict.it
Telephone: +39-095-3781533
Received: April 28, 2016
Peer-review started: May 3, 2016
First decision: June 17, 2016
Revised: July 14, 2016
Accepted: July 29, 2016
Article in press: August 1, 2016
Published online: September 28, 2016
Processing time: 151 Days and 13.8 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Thoracic ultrasound (TUS), with some technical limitations, may provide useful imaging of pleura, lung and heart disease. The field of application of TUS are pleural effusion, pneumothorax, and lung consolidation. Paediatric and newborn disease are suitable for TUS investigation aimed at the detection of congenital or acquired chest disease avoiding or limiting radiological exposure. TUS improves the effectiveness of medical practice in resource-limited settings, in small point-of-care facilities, in hostile environment and in poorer countries. Monitoring of patients is possible, depending on disease and context, not asking to the procedure more than it can give.