Ultrasound - B-Lines

Case Study

TITLE - IMAGING ACUTE PULMONARY OEDEMA: The ROLE OF 'FILTERS'

HISTORY

An elderly gentleman presents with acute onset shortness of breath on a background history of heart disease

ULTRASOUND FINDINGS

Ultrasound of the lung demonstrated multiple B-lines. This is consistent with acute pulmonary oedema, but may also be due to pathology such as pulmonary fibrosis

DISCUSSION

B-lines are artefacts resulting from the change in impedance between fluid and air filled alveoli. Therefore imaging tools which filter out artefacts, such as tissue harmonic imaging (THI) and crossbeam (also known as multibeam, compounding and SonoCT), may reduce the appearance of B-lines and should be turned off in order to visualise them better.

Prepared by Ahilan Parameswaran and Justin Bowra, SAH