Ultrasound Level 1 Tutorial: Lung Ultrasound
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Tutorial: Lung Ultrasound
Learn ultrasound of the lung. Identify pneumothorax, pleural effusions and wet lungs.
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Tutorial: Lung Ultrasound Comet tails
Lessons
42
Times Practiced
1284
Cases Completed
1h 24m
Total Time spent
1m 24s
Average Time
Progress
Accuracy
Efficiency
Accuracy
Efficiency
1 Normal Lung Ultrasound Normal Lung Ultrasound
2 A lines A lines
3 B lines B lines
Current lesson 4 Comet tails Comet tails
5 Seashore and Barcode in M mode Seashore and Barcode in M mode
6 Pleural Effusion Pleural Effusion
7 Pneumothorax Pneumothorax
8 Interstitial Lung Patterns Interstitial Lung Patterns
Comet tails

Comet Tail Artifacts
  • comet tails are a normal finding
  • they are generated by the presence of the visceral pleura and parietal pleura interacting with each other to form a small reverberation artifact
  • comet tails move with respiration
  • comet tails will not erase A lines
  • comet tails disappear if there is a pneumothorax

Can you see the comet tails in the video (yellow ovals in the still image)?
 
   





Comet tails and B lines are similar in the following ways. They both:
  • are hyperechoic (whiter)
  • start at pleura and travel "down" away from the probe
  • move with respiration
  • both are absent if there is a pneumothorax

Comet tails and B lines are different in that:
  • comet tails are very short, typically < 2 cm
  • B lines will extend to the bottom of the screen, > 20 cm
  • comet tails will not erase A lines. B lines will.
  • comet tails are a normal finding. B lines are abnormal

To help you compare, here is an example of B lines: