Clinical Thoracic Ultrasound: A Handbook for Pulmonologists, Internists, Intensivists

Clinical Thoracic Ultrasound is a practical handbook manual designed for medical professionals—pulmonologists, cardiologists, internists, and intensive care physicians—who wish to learn and apply bedside ultrasonographic examination. This accurate, rapid, repeatable, and radiation-free method has become an integral part of the clinical thoracic examination, alongside inspection, palpation, percussion, and auscultation. The handbook provides information structured in the style of classical semiology, presented in a straightforward and practical format, complemented by numerous images. It includes step-by-step ultrasonographic examination algorithms for various respiratory pathologies, essential details for initiating a focused cardiac assessment, and specific guidance on thoracic ultrasound in children, which is particularly useful for paediatricians. Additionally, it introduces multisystem ultrasound examination and offers suggestions for collaboration, research projects, and medical education using simulators. Developed originally by a team of enthusiastic physicians who have championed thoracic ultrasound in Romania, under the editorship of Dr Tudor Toma—a graduate of the University of Medicine in Iași and currently a senior consultant pulmonologist at Lewisham Hospital and lecturer at King's College London—this manual serves as an essential guide for integrating thoracic ultrasound into clinical practice, both in outpatient settings and hospitals.