Ultrasonography in cardiopulmonary emergencies

The utilization of ultrasound has rapidly increased over the past few decades due to its ease of use, wider availability of portable machines, broad applicability, non-invasiveness, and real-time imaging. A varied spectrum of clinical conditions such as diverse lung pathologies and various etiologies of acute circulatory failure can be rapidly ascertained using bedside ultrasonography. It has been shown that lung ultrasonography has more sensitivity than chest x-ray in detecting pulmonary congestion in heart failure, subpleural lung consolidation in pneumonia, and characterizing and detecting even minimal pleural effusions. This review gives an overview of the application of ultrasonography in the evaluation of cardiopulmonary failure which is the most commonly encountered clinical entity in the emergency room (ER). The most feasible bedside tests to predict fluid responsiveness are described in this review. Lastly, essential ultrasonographic protocols that are useful for systematic examination of critically ill patients were presented.