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Miliary tuberculosis: sonographic pattern in chest ultrasound

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Abstract

Miliary tuberculosis (TB) is characterized by a multitude of small nodular opacities on chest radiography. Despite ultrasound of the chest gaining wider acceptance as a diagnostic tool of lung infections, sonographic changes of pulmonary miliary TB have not yet been reported. Here, we describe B-lines and comet-tail artifacts disseminated throughout multiple lung areas and a pattern of sub-pleural granularity as consistent changes seen in lung ultrasound of ten patients with pulmonary miliary TB diagnosed by chest radiography.

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Acknowledgments

We thank all patients included in this case series. The authors did not receive any financial support for this study; no specific funding was received to carry out this work. SB is participant in the Charité Clinical Scientist Program funded by the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Berlin Institute of Health.

Author contributions

LH, SJ, and TH conceived the idea for this manuscript. LH performed the scans and followed the patients clinically. TH reviewed the video clips and images remotely. SB, NvH, and all authors contributed to the writing of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Khayelitsha District Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa

    L. Hunter

  2. Department of Pediatric Pneumology and Immunology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353, Berlin, Germany

    S. Bélard

  3. Clinical Infectious Disease Research Initiative (CIDRI), Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Cape Town, South Africa

    S. Janssen

  4. Division of Emergency Medicine, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa

    D. J. van Hoving

  5. Department of Medicine, Klinikum Muenchen-Perlach, Munich, Germany

    T. Heller

Authors
  1. L. Hunter
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  2. S. Bélard
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  3. S. Janssen
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  4. D. J. van Hoving
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  5. T. Heller
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to S. Bélard.

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On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

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Hunter, L., Bélard, S., Janssen, S. et al. Miliary tuberculosis: sonographic pattern in chest ultrasound. Infection 44, 243–246 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s15010-015-0865-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s15010-015-0865-8

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