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Question
30 year-old presents with cough & fever. CXR shows mild right lower lobe pneumonia. The lung ultrasound of the right lower lobe is shown below. What's the diagnosis?
Answer
Answer: Pulmonary abscess
- Patient initially denied IV drugs of abuse, but later disclosed use when this was found
- Chest CT demonstrated several pulmonary abscesses and the patient was admitted for a workup of endocarditis
Bottom-line: Not only is ultrasound faster than a CXR in diagnosing pneumonia, unexpected diagnoses may be found that change management
References
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