Lung ultrasound is a discipline that comes complete with a number of technical terms that can at first be tricky to get to grips with. Practitioners are required to negotiate the ‘lung lingo’, including the somewhat exotically termed lung rockets and all serve as a means by which to accurately and rapidly describe the clinical ailments of the patient.

An article published by Daniel A Lichtenstein, ‘Lung ultrasound in the critically ill’, Annals of Intensive Care, 2014 Jan 9, 4:1 looks in more detail at ultrasonography and the lung, and is a very interesting read for anyone specialising in this area. It is reasonable to assume that the information and conclusions drawn here are also directly applicable to the veterinary world. Whilst not all the terminology is described here, a read of the full article can be accessed by clicking on this link.

The pleural line can be identified following ultrasonography of the lung, and can be used as a way by which to locate the parietal pleura. Pleural lines can also be referred to as A-lines in instances where they occur in a regular pattern and reveal the presence of gas to the practitioner. Repeated numbers of B-lines are termed lung-rockets and ultrasonographically can be considered hyperechoic. For a more complete list of all the types of images/signs that can be retrieved following a lung ultrasound please see the full article.

This publication also takes the more practical aspect of ultrasound into consideration. The size of the scanner is important when space is an issue as is often the case for any practitioner – a veterinary practice could not afford to have big and bulky scanners taking up valuable space, and the same can be said for medical establishments for humans. Please take a look at our website for more information on the space-saving scanners we can provide or contact us for more information. In addition the author discusses the merits of scanners that can start up quickly, alongside the importance of choosing the right probe for the purpose for which it will be used – the microconvex probe is looked at here for its sheer multi-organ versatility (amongst other things).

In sum, the overall conclusion of the paper appears to be that ultrasound should be used for lung-related conditions in a clinical setting, an observation which is also likely to be true for veterinary ultrasound as well.