ACCURACY OF LUNGS ULTRASOUND IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF PNEUMONIA: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Abstract

Background: Pneumonia is one of the leading cause of death. Chest ultrasound is reliable, quick, bedside invasive, non-ionizing, more accurate, and easily educated for early detection of chest diseases and their follow up.

Objectives: To assess diagnostic accuracy of LUS in the diagnosis of pneumonia by analyzing its sensitivity, specificity, positive predicative value (PPV) and negative predicative value (NPV) across various studies. Materials & Methods: An electronic database search was performed (PubMed, Google scholar) with the data ranges from 2011 to 2025. All the studies included in the search was in English language. The study included randomized control trials (RCTs) studies, cohort studies, cross sectional studies performed in the patient of any age (neonates, Childrens, adults, elderly) with suspected or confirmed pneumonia performed by lungs ultrasound.Results: The majority of research (seven out of ten) concentrated on the pediatric population, demonstrating that LUS is especially helpful in this demographic. Lung ultrasonography's sensitivity (ST) varied between 87.5% and 100%. A further metric, specificity (SP), which ranged from 87.5% to 100%, indicates that LUS is also reasonably effective at ruling out pneumonia. The positive predictive value (PPV) varied according to the study population and methodology, ranging from 50% to 98.5%. Conclusion: Lung ultrasonography (LUS) is a very accurate and first-line imaging method for diagnosing pneumonia in a wide range of disease populations. LUS demonstrated outstanding results in both pediatric and adult populations, providing radiation-free, bedside-accessible alternatives that are noninvasive and have high sensitivity and specificity.