Lung Ultrasound in Pleuritic Chest Pain

Completed

• Conditions: Community Acquired Pneumonia; Lung Cancer; Pulmonary Embolism; Pleuritis
• Interventions: Procedure: Lung ultrasound

• Registration Number: NCT02107001
• Lead Sponsor: University of Milan

Brief Summary

Chest pain is an alarming symptom and one of the most frequent causes of access to the Emergency Departement. Although chest X-ray remains an essential step in the diagnostic process, several studies showed numerous limitations of radiography which frequently is inconclusive. Ultrasonography is a non-radiating imaging technique. Albeit a wide use of ultrasound, the utilization of ultrasound in the study of the lung has only recently been introduced in the clinical practice. Several studies proved that lung ultrasound is useful in the diagnosis of lung consolidation in community acquired pneumonia. Nowadays, ultrasound is not routinely used in the presence of chest pain. Our hypothesis based on clinical experience is that, in patients with pleuritic chest pain, lung ultrasound is very sensitive in detecting pneumonia and other lung diseases (such as pneumothorax) thus performing better than radiography. The primary aim of this study is to verify, in patients affected by pleuritic chest pain, the accuracy of lung ultrasound compared to chest-X-ray. The secondary aim is to evaluate the accuracy of lung ultrasound consolidations in distinguishing lung consolidation in pneumonia, atelectasis, pulmonary infarction, or tumors.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2014-03
• Study First Submitted: 2014-04-03
• Study First Submitted QC: 2014-04-03
• Study First Posted: 2014-04-08
• Status Verified: 2015-11
• Primary Completion: 2015-11
• Study Completion: 2015-11
• Last Update Submitted: 2015-11-30
• Last Update Posted: 2015-12-02

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 400

Inclusion Criteria

• patient aged 18 years and older
• patient affected by thoracic pleuritic pain

Exclusion Criteria

• patient affected by a chronic condition causing thoracic pain
• patient affected by acute cardiovascular diseases (e.g. acute coronary syndrome)

Study & Design

• Study Type: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Design: Not specified

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Patients with pleuritic chest pain	Lung ultrasound	Study investigators will perform lung ultrasound in each patient with pleuritic chest pain at inclusion

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Sensitivity and specificity of lung ultrasound in pneumonia, chest wall pain, lung cancer, pulmonary embolism or other causes in patients presenting with pleuritic chest pain.	30 days	Sensitivity and specificity, positive and negative predictive values of lung ultrasound in pneumonia, chest wall pain, lung cancer, pulmonary embolism or other causes in patients presenting with pleuritic chest pain.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Accuracy of ultrasound in distinguishing lung consolidation in pneumonia, atelectasis, pulmonary infarction or tumors	30 days	Accuracy of ultrasound in differentiating consolidation in distinguishing lung consolidation in pneumonia, atelectasis, pulmonary infarction, tumors or other diseases with respect to the final diagnosis stated by a scientific committee.

Trial Locations

Locations (7)

Emergency Department, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Careggi, Firenze.; 🇮🇹 Florence, Italy

USC Pneumologia, Azienda Ospedaliera della Provincia di Lodi; 🇮🇹 Lodi, Italy

- U.O.C Broncopneumologia, IRCCS Ca' Granda, Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milano.; 🇮🇹 Milan, Italy

Respiratory Unit, San Paolo Hospital, Dipartimento Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano.; 🇮🇹 Milan, Italy

S.O.C. Pneumologia, Ospedale S. Luca, Rovigo.; 🇮🇹 Rovigo, Italy

- Dipartimento di Medicina d'Urgenza, Ospedale Universitario, S. Luigi Gonzaga, Orbassano (TO).; 🇮🇹 Turin, Italy

Emergency Department, San Paolo Hospital; 🇮🇹 Milan, Italy