Remote dielectric sensing and lung ultrasound to assess pulmonary congestion

We investigated the agreement between remote dielectric sensing (ReDS) system, which is a recently introduced non-invasive technology to quantify the degree of pulmonary congestion, and lung ultrasound (LUS), which is a gold standard to assess the existence of severe pulmonary congestion. Consecutive patients who were hospitalized to examine the cause of heart failure and treat their heart failure in our institute were prospectively included. They received LUS and simultaneous ReDS measurements. Three or more B-lines at each LUS zone was assigned to B-profile positive, indicating the existence of significant pulmonary congestion. ReDS values ≥ 35% were defined as significant pulmonary congestion. A total of 19 heart failure patients were included (77 years, 13 men). Plasma B-type natriuretic peptide level was 131 (36, 416) pg/ml. Three patients had B-profile, indicating significant pulmonary congestion, and two of them had ≥ 35% of ReDS (sensitivity 66.7%, specificity 87.5%, and negative predictive value 93.3%). Most of the patients (79%) had lower B-lines below 3 and did not satisfy the criteria of B-profile, irrespective of wide ranges of ReDS values. ReDS system had as acceptable predictability as LUS in assessing the existence of significant pulmonary congestion. ReDS would be recommended to rule out significant pulmonary congestion or quantify the degree of less significant pulmonary congestion.