Extracardiac chest ultrasonography in infants and children: radiographic and clinical implications.

Extracardiac chest ultrasonography was performed in 51 children for characterization and localization of pleural disease (29 children), for evaluation of chest and mediastinal masses (12), and for determining the cause of unilateral chest radiographic opacification (10). Ultrasonography clearly differentiated drainable fluid from pleural thickening, accurately characterized chest and mediastinal masses, guided aspiration and drainage procedures, and allowed rapid diagnosis of causes of unilateral opaque hemithorax.