Expert review of respiratory medicine
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Expert Rev Respir Med · Feb 2019
ReviewThe role of ultrasound lung artifacts in the diagnosis of respiratory diseases.
Thoracic ultrasound is employed for the diagnosis of many thoracic diseases and is an accepted detection tool of pleural effusions, atelectasis, pneumothorax, and pneumonia. However, the use of ultrasound for the evaluation of parenchymal lung disease, when the organ is still aerated, is a relatively new application. ⋯ Even though the practical role of lung ultrasound artifacts is accepted by many clinicians, their physical basis and the correlations between these signs and the causal pathology is not known in depth. Expert commentary: In this review, we discuss the meaning of A- and B-Lines in the diagnostic ultrasound imaging of the lung and the acoustic properties of the pleural plane which are at the basis of their generation.
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Expert Rev Respir Med · Feb 2019
ReviewThe burden of community-acquired bacterial pneumonia in the era of antibiotic resistance.
Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a significant global health problem and leading cause of death and hospitalization in both the US and abroad. Increasing macrolide resistance among Streptococcus pneumoniae and other pathogens results in a greater disease burden, along with changing demographics and a higher preponderance of comorbid conditions. Areas covered: This review summarizes current data on the clinical and economic burden of CAP, with particular focus on community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP). ⋯ Expert commentary: The clinical and economic burden of CABP is staggering, far-reaching, and expected to increase in the future as new antibiotic resistance mechanisms emerge and the world's population ages. Important measures must be initiated to stabilize and potentially decrease this burden. Urgent needs in CABP management include the development of new antimicrobials, adjuvant therapies, and rapid diagnostics.