PMC6589965_01
Images obtained at the patient's home and in an emergency department: (a) ultrasound image, obtained at the patient's home, showing lung consolidation with pleural effusion and B-lines (position indicated using (1)); (b) ultrasound image, obtained at the patient's home, revealing multiple B-lines (position indicated using (2)); (c) chest X-ray, obtained in an emergency department, showing opacity in bibasilar lung infiltrates; and (d) chest CT scan, obtained in an emergency department, showing bibasilar consolidation in the lung base; the left lung shows consolidation along the posterior basal (S10) bronchioles.
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Array probe, 3.5 MHz; body, MIRUCO , NIPPON SIGMAX Co., Ltd, Tokyo, Japan) examination revealed abnormal findings such as pleural effusion and multiple B-lines (Figure 1a and 1b), which strongly indicated pneumonia. A chest X-ray (Figure 1c) and a CT scan of the patient's thorax (Figure 1d) revealed bibasilar infiltrates and wall thickening in the left S10 bronchi.
Images obtained in hospital after a 10-day admission: (a) ultrasound image of position (1), showing decreased pleural effusion and lower number of B-lines compared with initial images in Figure 1a; (b) ultrasound image of position (2), showing an almost normal lung with few compact B-lines; (c) chest X-ray, showing disappearance of opacity in bibasilar lung infiltrates; and (d) chest CT scan, showing improvement in bibasilar consolidation in the lung base with decreased pleural effusion in the left lung.
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Although the lung ultrasound showed the disappearance of pleural effusion and subpleural consolidation, some B-lines still remained (Figure 2a and 2b). The CT scan of the thorax showed disappearance of bibasilar infiltrates, but pleural abnormality was still present, which was consistent with the ultrasound findings (Figure 2c and 2d).