Monika Kairytė¹, Evaldas Kilmonis¹, Ainius Žarskus²

¹Lithuanian university of health sciences, Medical Academy, Faculty of Medicine

²Lithunian university of health sciences hospital, Department of Anaesthesiology

ABSTRACT

Aim: To evaluate correlation between lung ultrasound findings and other ivenstigation methods (transthoracic echocardiography and chest x-ray) among patients with acute myocardial infarction after treatment with percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty.

Methods: We investigated patients of LUHS KK Cardiology intensive care unit who were diagnosed with acute myocardial infarction and treated with percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty. Lung ultrasound was performed in three main zones of both sides of chest. The presence and number of B lines was counted in every zone and also we investigated correlation between B lines and findings of transthoracic echocardiography and chest x-ray. Spearman’s correlation coefficient was used to determine relationship between findings. A value of p< 0,05 was considered as a statistical significance.

Results: 20 patients  were included in our study: 4 women (20%) and 16 men (80%). 10 patients (50%) had A profile and other 10 patients (50%) had B profile. In patients with B profile average number of B lines was 8.8 ± 1,3. Statistically significant correlation was found between total number of B lines and ejection fraction (rs=-0,480,  p=0,038), pulmonary artery systolic pressure ( rs=0,820, p=0,013), also there was statistically significant correliation between total number of B lines and degree of pulmonary venous congestion (rs=0,590, p=0,013) in chest x-ray.

Conclusions: We identified statistically significant connection beween number of B lines and efejction fraction, pulmonary artery systolic pressure, degree of pulmonary venous congestion.

Keywords: BLUE protocol, bedside lung ultrasound.