• Francesca Frassi, Luna Gargani, Suzana Gligorova, Quirino Ciampi, Gaetano Mottola, and Eugenio Picano.
• Institute of Clinical Physiology, Via Moruzzi 1, Pisa 56010, Italy.
• Eur J Echocardiogr. 2007 Dec 1; 8 (6): 474-9.

BackgroundUltrasound lung comets (ULCs) are an echographic sign of extravascular lung water, that originate from water-thickened interlobular septa.AimTo establish the echocardiographic correlates of ULCs.Methods340 in-hospital patients (68 +/- 12years, 115 females) admitted to adult cardiology department underwent upon admission a separate evaluation of chest ULCs and a comprehensive 2D and Doppler echocardiography assessment, including the degree of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (from 0 = normal to 3 = restrictive pattern). A patient ULC score has been obtained by summing the number of ULCs from each of the scanning spaces in the anterior right and left chest, from second to fifth intercostal space.ResultsMultivariate linear regression analysis identified New York Heart Association (NYHA) class (OR = 2.1, CI = 1.4-2.9), ejection fraction (OR 0.954, CI = 0.928-0.981) and degree of diastolic dysfunction (OR = 2.438, CI = 1.418-4.190) as the only parameters independently associated to the number of ULCs.ConclusionULCs are a simple echographic sign of extravascular lung water, more frequently associated with left ventricular diastolic and/or systolic dysfunction. ULCs can usefully integrate the clinical and pathophysiological information provided by conventional 2D and Doppler echocardiography, in patients with known or suspected heart failure and dyspnoea as a presenting symptom.

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