Basic thoracic ultrasound for the respiratory physician.

Thoracic ultrasound (TUS) evolved in the last ten years as the method of choice for evaluating pleural abnormalities and for guiding lung procedures. TUS can "see" almost all structures in the chest, including thoracic wall, pleura, pleural space, the heart, the great vessels and the peripheral layers of the lungs. However, there is still a great need to develop TUS services in respiratory departments in Romania. To facilitate this development we reviewed the literature and selected what we considered to be essential practical information for the beginner in TUS, including technique, normal findings, and common abnormalities. Moreover, we describe here a step-by-step scanning technique for chest physicians. Our aim is to raise awareness of TUS. Because TUS is rapid, accurate, noninvasive and can be applied in any ward, we recommend facilitating the training of all junior respiratory doctors in this technique, as it is likely to improve patient experience, clinical effectiveness and to reduce costs with chest radiographs or CT scans in the future.