Utility of lung ultrasound in hospitalised patients with acute bronchiolitis. A prospective study.

BACKGROUND: Acute bronchiolitis is the first episode of respiratory distress in children under 24 months, characterised by wheezing and crackling rales. Diagnosis is clinical, with no routine supplementary tests recommended. This study aims to determine the utility of lung ultrasound in predicting the course of acute bronchiolitis in patients that require hospitalisation. METHODS: A prospective observational and analytical study was conducted with 100 patients aged 0-2 years, hospitalised in the Infant Hospitalisation Unit, Neonatology, or Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) with a diagnosis of acute bronchiolitis. Two lung ultrasounds were performed, one at admission and one at discharge, scored using the Pulmonary Score by Zoido Garrote et al ³ . RESULTS: A threshold of 12.5 points (Sensitivity 90%, Specificity 89.7%, AUC 0.96) was set for initiating respiratory support and 17.5 points for ICU admission (S 83.3%, E 93.9%, AUC 0.95). There was a significant correlation between the Pulmonary Score and clinical severity scales, days of respiratory support, hospitalisation duration, and FiO2 requirement. CONCLUSIONS: The Pulmonary Score could be a useful indicator for predicting the need for respiratory support or intensive care in acute bronchiolitis patients. More multicenter studies with larger sample sizes are needed to further investigate the utility of lung ultrasound and the Pulmonary Score in acute bronchiolitis.