RT Book, Section A1 Boyd, Jeremy S. A1 Melton, Myles A1 Rupp, Jordan D. A1 Ferre, Robinson M. A2 Knoop, Kevin J. A2 Stack, Lawrence B. A2 Storrow, Alan B. A2 Thurman, R. Jason SR Print(0) ID 1181052076 T1 Lung Ultrasound T2 The Atlas of Emergency Medicine, 5e YR 2021 FD 2021 PB McGraw-Hill PP New York, NY SN 9781260134940 LK accessemergencymedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1181052076 RD 2024/03/28 AB Aerated lungs often interfere with sonographic visualization of the organs deep to them, such as often occurs in cardiac and biliary exams. This is due to the scattering effect of gas molecules on the ultrasound beam. For this reason, ultrasound of the lungs themselves was long thought to be of no diagnostic use. However, in recent years, researchers and clinicians have discovered that lung ultrasound can be used to assess for pathologic conditions that occur at the interface of the lung and the chest wall such as pneumothorax, pulmonary edema, and pneumonia. The evaluation of the pleura and the finding of lung sliding to evaluate for pneumothorax was described earlier in the section on trauma ultrasound. Contemporary point-of-care lung ultrasound often evaluates for the presence of alveolar interstitial syndrome, which occurs with the collection of fluid within the interlobular and intralobular lymphatics of the lung. This occurs in various pathologic states including cardiogenic pulmonary edema, acute respiratory distress syndrome, pneumonia, and diffuse parenchymal lung disease. Lung ultrasound can also effectively be used to visualize lung consolidation and pleural effusions.