Rib Reverberation: An Important New Artifact in Lung Ultrasound

Point of care ultrasound of the lungs has emerged as a crucial tool in the evaluation of hypoxemia in critical care and hospital medicine settings. The ability to distinguish the horizontal A-line artifact from other lung pathology is essential for guiding clinical decision making. Typically, ribs...

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Main Authors: Yulei Cao, Jennifer Sun, Cameron Baston
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: CINQUILL Medical Publishers Inc. 2025-04-01
Series:POCUS Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ojs.library.queensu.ca/index.php/pocus/article/view/17768
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author Yulei Cao
Jennifer Sun
Cameron Baston
author_facet Yulei Cao
Jennifer Sun
Cameron Baston
author_sort Yulei Cao
collection DOAJ
description Point of care ultrasound of the lungs has emerged as a crucial tool in the evaluation of hypoxemia in critical care and hospital medicine settings. The ability to distinguish the horizontal A-line artifact from other lung pathology is essential for guiding clinical decision making. Typically, ribs and their acoustic shadows are used as anchoring anatomy to ensure visualization of pleura and parenchyma. We present a case of horizontal reverberation artifacts incidentally observed over a rib during a point of care lung ultrasound (LUS) in a 77-year-old patient with persistent hypoxic respiratory failure. Describing these reverberation artifacts caused by ribs is important to decrease the chance of misinterpretation.
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publisher CINQUILL Medical Publishers Inc.
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series POCUS Journal
spelling doaj-art-89df2c6cc5284fee83074299e205676e2025-08-20T02:26:22ZengCINQUILL Medical Publishers Inc.POCUS Journal2369-85432025-04-01100110.24908/pocusj.v10i01.17768Rib Reverberation: An Important New Artifact in Lung UltrasoundYulei Cao0Jennifer Sun1Cameron Baston2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0124-1415Department of Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USADepartment of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USADepartment of Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA Point of care ultrasound of the lungs has emerged as a crucial tool in the evaluation of hypoxemia in critical care and hospital medicine settings. The ability to distinguish the horizontal A-line artifact from other lung pathology is essential for guiding clinical decision making. Typically, ribs and their acoustic shadows are used as anchoring anatomy to ensure visualization of pleura and parenchyma. We present a case of horizontal reverberation artifacts incidentally observed over a rib during a point of care lung ultrasound (LUS) in a 77-year-old patient with persistent hypoxic respiratory failure. Describing these reverberation artifacts caused by ribs is important to decrease the chance of misinterpretation. https://ojs.library.queensu.ca/index.php/pocus/article/view/17768lung ultrasoundartifactA-linerib ultrasoundreverberation artifact
spellingShingle Yulei Cao
Jennifer Sun
Cameron Baston
Rib Reverberation: An Important New Artifact in Lung Ultrasound
POCUS Journal
lung ultrasound
artifact
A-line
rib ultrasound
reverberation artifact
title Rib Reverberation: An Important New Artifact in Lung Ultrasound
title_full Rib Reverberation: An Important New Artifact in Lung Ultrasound
title_fullStr Rib Reverberation: An Important New Artifact in Lung Ultrasound
title_full_unstemmed Rib Reverberation: An Important New Artifact in Lung Ultrasound
title_short Rib Reverberation: An Important New Artifact in Lung Ultrasound
title_sort rib reverberation an important new artifact in lung ultrasound
topic lung ultrasound
artifact
A-line
rib ultrasound
reverberation artifact
url https://ojs.library.queensu.ca/index.php/pocus/article/view/17768
work_keys_str_mv AT yuleicao ribreverberationanimportantnewartifactinlungultrasound
AT jennifersun ribreverberationanimportantnewartifactinlungultrasound
AT cameronbaston ribreverberationanimportantnewartifactinlungultrasound