Development and Assessment of a Novel Lung Ultrasound Interpretation Criteria for the Detection of Interstitial Lung Disease in Systemic Sclerosis. Arthritis care & research Fairchild, R. n., Chung, M. n., Yang, D. n., Sharpless, L. n., Li, S. n., Chung, L. n. 2020

Abstract

Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a frequent complication of systemic sclerosis (SSc), and ILD screening, characterization, and monitoring are important for therapeutic decision-making and prognostication. Lung ultrasonography (LUS) is a potential alternative imaging modality for ILD detection. In this study, we develop and test a novel LUS examination technique and interpretation criteria for detecting SSc-ILD.LUS acquisition was performed by collecting short ultrasound movies at 14 lung positions. LUS interpretation criteria for SSc-ILD detection focused on visualized pleural changes. To assess the performance of our methodology for SSc-ILD detection, we prospectively enrolled SSc patients with high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) imaging within 3 months of LUS. LUS exams were scored independently by two blinded readers (one ultrasonographer and one non-ultrasonographer). The sensitivity and specificity for SSc-ILD detection was assessed and agreement was measured with Cohen's Kappa statistic.To test the performance of our LUS acquisition technique and interpretation criteria, 20 SSc patients were evaluated by LUS (278 lung zones) and HRCT. HRCT confirmed ILD in 9 patients (45%). LUS was positive for SSc-ILD in 11 patients (55%) with a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 82% versus HRCT, with perfect agreement between the two readers (?=1). Analysis by individual lung zones found excellent agreement between readers with 93.8% concordance and ?=0.82.We developed a novel LUS examination technique and interpretation criteria that are highly sensitive and specific for SSc-ILD detection in an SSc cohort, affording perfect agreement between ultrasonographer and non-ultrasonographer readers.

View details for DOI 10.1002/acr.24338

View details for PubMedID 32475026