Lucchin F, Minicuci N, Ravasi M A, Cordella L, Palù M, Cetoli M, Borin P
Servizio di Anestesia e Rianimazione, Ospedale Civile di Rovigo, Italy.
Intensive Care Med. 1996 Nov;22(11):1265-8. doi: 10.1007/BF01709347.
To study the accuracy of A-mode ultrasonography (A-MU) in detecting secretion in maxillary and frontal sinuses in critically ill, intubated patients undergoing mechanical ventilation.
Open study in mechanically ventilated, comatose patients.
Medical-surgical intensive care unit in the General Hospital of Rovigo.
50 consecutive, mechanically ventilated, critically ill patients. All patients were in a coma and needed cerebral computed tomography (CT) for a diagnosis.
The A-MU technique gave 100 images of maxillary and frontal sinuses. The images were read blindly and classified into five categories: definitely normal, definitely abnormal, probably normal, questionable, and probably abnormal. CT findings were considered to be the "gold standard". The specificity of echo images varied from 72 to 98% and the sensitivity from 63 to 86% for maxillary sinuses. For frontal sinuses, the specificity varied from 96 to 99% and the sensitivity from 14 to 57%. The area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve was found to be 0.89 and 0.76 for maxillary and frontal sinuses, respectively.
The A-MU technique is an accurate tool for detecting secretion in the maxillary sinuses in intubated patients. More investigations are necessary in order to evaluate its usefulness in the frontal sinuses.