Diagnostic Accuracy of Chest x-Ray and Ultrasonography in Detection of Community Acquired Pneumonia; a Brief Report

INTRODUCTION: Chest x-ray (CXR) is the simplest diagnostic tool of Community Acquired Pneumonia (CAP), but it has some limitation. Therefore, the aim of this study is comparing the diagnostic accuracy of CXR and chest ultrasonography (CUS) in detection of CAP. METHODS: In the present study, a consecutive sample of suspected patients with CAP was underwent CUS, CXR, and chest computed tomography (CT) scan. Diagnostic accuracy of CUS and CXR was assessed by calculating the sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and likelihood ratios using SPSS 20 statistical software. RESULTS: 30 patients with CAP were enrolled (93.3% male with mean age of 63.8 ± 18.3 years). Sensitivity of CUS and CXR in detection of CAP were 100.0% (95% Cl: 85.4-100.0) and 93.1% (95% Cl: 75.8-98.8), respectively. Specificity of CXR was 0.0 (95% Cl: 0.0-94.5), while the CUS specificity was not calculable. CONCLUSION: Findings of the present study demonstrated on the higher diagnostic accuracy of CUS versus CXR in detection of pneumonia.