Ahmed Sadaka, Asmaa Gomaa, Hoda Abdelgawad, Nashwa H. Abdelwahab, Eman Ahmed Hatata, Hanaa Shafiek
Abstract
We aimed to evaluate lung ultrasound (LUS) and oxygen desaturation as markers for the severity of diffuse parenchymal lung disease (DPLD), specifically the fibrotic subtypes, and correlate the findings with high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) and other physiologic parameters.
Introduction
Diffuse parenchymal lung diseases (DPLDs) represent a broad spectrum of heterogeneous groups of disorders characterized by diffuse pulmonary fibrosis with variable presentations and prognoses [1]. The primary physiological derangement of DPLD is impaired gas exchange leading to hypoxemia–a crucial sequel in the natural history of DPLP– [2] that is linked to breathlessness, reduced physical activity and survival [3].
Materials and methods
This was a case–control study that enrolled 51 participants (31 DPLD patients and 20 age-matched controls) admitted to our institution from 1st September 2021–30th November 2022. All patients were adults (> 18 years old) and diagnosed with DPLD based on chest HRCT according to ATS/ERS guidelines [10,15].
Results
There was no statistically significant difference between the DPLD patients and the control group regarding age, gender, smoking history and BMI (p > 0.05, S1 Table). None of the participants had cardiac comorbidities as left ventricular dysfunction, cardiomyopathies or dysrhythmias as being screened by echocardiography.
Discussion
The current study showed that LUS findings correlate well with HRCT in terms of Warrick score and pulmonary function parameters, most importantly FVC, the main severity marker used for DPLD in many studies.
Conclusion
Our results highlight the role of LUS in the evaluation of DPLD and its diagnostic role in identifying severe fibrotic DPLD. The number of B-lines and pleural fragmentation in LUS can be utilized as markers of disease severity.
Citation: Sadaka A, Gomaa A, Abdelgawad H, Abdelwahab NH, Hatata EA, Shafiek H (2025) Oxygen desaturation and lung ultrasonography as markers of diffuse parenchymal lung diseases severity. PLoS One 20(5): e0322657. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0322657
Editor: Vincenzo Lionetti,, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, ITALY
Received: July 4, 2024; Accepted: March 25, 2025; Published: May 9, 2025
Copyright: © 2025 Sadaka et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Data Availability: All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files. Further, the raw data is available in Figshare https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.28054862.v1 DataCite: SADAKA, AHMED; Gomaa, Asmaa; Abdelgawad, Hoda; Wahab, Nashwa Hassan Abdel; Shafiek, Hanaa (2025). Oxygen desaturation and lung ultrasonography as markers of diffuse parenchymal lung diseases severity. figshare. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.28054862.v1
Funding: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Abbreviation List: DPLDs, diffuse parenchymal lung diseases; PAH, pulmonary artery hypertension; NOD, nocturnal oxygen desaturation; OSA, obstructive sleep apnea; HRCT, high-resolution computed tomography; LUS, lung ultrasound; PAP, pulmonary artery pressure; 6MWT, 6-minute walk test; SpO2, nocturnal oxygen saturation; BMI, body mass index; sPAP, systolic pulmonary artery pressure; mPAP, mean pulmonary artery pressure; GGO, ground glass opacities; T90, total sleep time spent with SpO2 < 90%; SDB, sleep disordered breathing; AHI, apnea/hypopnea index; h, hour; IQR, interquartile range; SD, standard deviation; n, number; OR, odd ratio; CI95%, 95% confidence interval; ROC, receiver operating characteristic curve; AUC, area under the curve; 6MWD, 6-minute walking distance; EID, exercise induced desaturation; ILDs, interstitial lung diseases
