Study Population and study setting
A prospective observational study was conducted in a single
tertiary-level teaching hospital. We prospectively analyzed patients
aged 1 month to 18 years admitted to the Department of Pediatrics
between March 2020 to August 2020.
The enrolled patients were divided into 3 groups:
Group 1 of the patients under study or group of acutely ill
children divided in turn into 3 sub-categories based on the type of
disease in progress:
- Cardiac disease
- Systemic inflammatory disease or sepsis without cardiac disease
- Cardiac disease and systemic inflammatory disease/sepsis
Group 2 of children with Bronchiolitis
Group 3 of Healthy Infants
All patients, belonging to group of acutely ill children and
included in the study, underwent anamnestic evaluation and clinical
evaluation. Furthermore, laboratory data, airway microbiological data
and lung ultrasound data were collected for all. Further investigations
were performed only when deemed necessary by the evaluating
pediatricians such as chest X-rays and some laboratory tests. During the
diagnostic process, the physician on duty made decisions about the
patient’s diagnosis and treatment according to his/her own practice and
without knowledge of the LUS findings, but aware of other clinical /
laboratory / imaging data if performed.
Written informed consent was obtained from was obtained by all
participants and / or their legal guardians (for children under 16). The
study was approved by the Institutional Review Board and Ethic Committee
(prot. 36173/19 ID2729). There is no identifying information or pictures
in the article.