Abstract
A healthy, air-filled lung can only be visualized by its artifacts, and pathologies
of the lung are revealed by changes in these artifacts. Because ultrasound artifacts
are predominantly used in pulmonary sonography to assess pathologic processes, the
variability of sonographically imageable phenomena is limited. For this reason, different
pulmonary diseases may present very similarly in ultrasound. Therefore, a correct
interpretation of the findings is only possible in the clinical context, taking into
account the age-dependent differential diagnoses.
The particular relevance of lung ultrasound in the treatment of neonatal patients
results from a close correlation between the extent of sonographically-depictable
pathologies and parameters of respiratory insufficiency. This suggests a direct correlation
between ultrasound findings and the severity of lung injury. Lung ultrasound thus
represents a unique, ubiquitously available, bedside, serial method for monitoring
the pulmonary status.
