B-Lines for the assessment of extravascular lung water: Just focused or semi-quantitative?

BACKGROUND B-lines as typical artefacts of lung ultrasound are considered as surrogate measurement for extravascular lung water. However, B-lines develop in the sub-pleural space and do not allow assessment of the whole lung. Here, we present data from the first observational multi-centre study focusing on the correlation between a B-lines score and extravascular lung water in critically ill patients suffering from a variety of diseases. PATIENTS AND METHODS In 184 adult patients, 443 measurements were obtained. B-lines were counted and expressed in a score which was compared to extravascular lung water, measured by single-indicator transpulmonary thermodilution. Appropriate correlation coe…