Shadowing Practice: How To: Ultrasound for Pneumothorax Case Study Video - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Hello, my name is Phil Pereira, and I'm the Emergency Ultrasound Coordinator at the New York Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, and welcome to SoundBytes Cases.
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In this module, we're going to look specifically at ultrasound of the lung to evaluate for pneumothorax.
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Interestingly enough, a classical belief was that the lung was not optimal for ultrasound imaging.
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However, newer findings have shown that actually ultrasound is an excellent modality for viewing the pleura and for detecting pneumothoraces.
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There's been a lot of research looking at this, and what's interesting is
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that ultrasound has been found now to be more sensitive than chest X -ray in the diagnosis of pneumothorax, especially in the supine trauma patient. And now,
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we're going to add on views of the lungs looking for pneumothorax as part of our extended FAST exam
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or the E -FAST exam that we'll be performing in trauma patients.
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We can also detect pneumothoraces as well in our medical patients.
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Now let's learn how to perform the ultrasound examination for the pneumothorax detection.
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Here we have the high -frequency linear type array probe positioned
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on the anterior chest wall at about the mid -clavicular line looking into about intercostal space three.
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Now in most cases of pneumothorax with the patient's supine, the air would be predominantly seen in this area.
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Note we're looking in a long axis configuration between the ribs with a marker dot oriented superiorly towards the patient's head.
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Once we've identified both the ribs and the pleura, we can swivel the probe into the short axis configuration to further look at the pleura and to detect pneumothorax.
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Here we have the probe oriented in a transverse or short axis orientation between the ribs, looking directly down at the pleura.
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Notice in this case, the marker dot is located towards the lateral aspect of the patient.
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Using both long and short axis configurations will allow you to detect a pneumothorax with a high degree of accuracy.
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If no lung is seen on the anterior chest wall, one can size out a pneumothorax by looking in the lateral positions as shown here.
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Notice the probe on the lateral chest wall in the short axis configuration between the ribs.
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If lung is seen here laterally, but not anteriorly, this would tell you it was an incomplete pneumothorax.
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We can complement the short axis view by locating the probe
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into the long axis configuration with the marker dot towards the
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patient's axilla to further examine into these lateral areas of the chest wall.
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Here's a nice pictorial showing the normal findings of a lung in a long axis type configuration.
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Superior rib to the left, inferior rib to the right.
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Notice
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that the ribs cast shadows posteriorly due to the inability of the sound waves to permeate the hard calcifications of the rib.
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We see the chest wall anteriorly, and note here the two layers of the pleura.
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And we see here the outer parietal pleura and the inner visceral pleura.
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Now, while I've depicted these as two separate layers, in reality, on ultrasound examination,
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they're seen as a single shimmering white line that moves back and forth as the patient breathes.
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And as the patient breathes, we can see white comet tails or linear lines, vertical lines, coming off the pleura down deep into the lung.
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So that will be the normal finding of a lung on long axis configuration.
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Here's a nice ultrasound image showing a normal lung, and what we see here, we're in the long axis configuration, so the superior rib is to the left, inferior rib to the right,
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chest wall anteriorly, and we see here the lung sliding, which is the opposition of the outer parietal and the inner visceral pleura,
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and we see the vertical comet tails coming off the back of the pleura.
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Thus, this is a completely normal exam, no pneumothorax.
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But note the location of the pleura, deep to the ribs, and that classic shimmering line back and forth as the patient takes a breath.
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Here we see more dramatic comet tails coming off the shimmering parietal and visceral pleura.
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In this patient, we see the comet tail shooting off the back, telling us that this lung is up and there's no pneumothorax.
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So vertical lines coming off the back of the pleura always mean
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that the lung is up and are always a good sign on lung ultrasonography.
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As we mentioned, we should also swivel the probe into the short axis configuration to further examine the lung, and what we see here is a normal lung in short axis configuration.
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Note here we're looking in between the ribs, so all we see is the dome of the lung, and notice that it slides back and forth as the patient breathes, and we see the vertical comet tails coming off the back.
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So a completely normal examination in the short axis plane.
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Here's another ultrasound image taken from the short axis configuration.
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Note here we see very prominent comet tails coming off the back of the lung as it slides back and forth.
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Again, it's that opposition of the parietal and visceral layers of the pleura that allow the lungs shimmering, but notice here all the comet tails coming off the back.
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In this case, this patient had some pulmonary edema associated with the lung, and these comet tails are more pronounced due to the presence of water within the pleura.
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But notice all these vertical lines coming off the back telling us this lung is up.
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A way to document that the lung is up to print out for the chart is to put M mode, and generally what we do is locate it so the M -mode cursor is down right at the pleura.
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And what we see is the classic seashore sign or waves on the beach.
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If we look anteriorly, we'll see the classic waves or no motion of the chest wall.
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And below that, deep to the pleura, we'll see the positive motion of the lung making up the beach.
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So waves on the beach or the seashore sign
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and M -mode documentation that the lung is up and that there's no pneumothorax.
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Now that we understand what a normal lung looks like on bedside examination, let's take a look at a pictorial showing a pneumothorax in a long axis view.
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We see here that the parietal pleura is now split from the visceral pleura, which is attached to the lung, by a layer of air shown by the yellow color.
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It's the splitting of the parietal and visceral pleura that now causes a lack of lung sliding,
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and instead of the opposed visceral and parietal pleura sliding back and forth as the patient breathes, all we see is a single line,
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the parietal pleura, with a lack of vertical comet tails coming off the back.
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Here's an ultrasound image taken from a patient who was stabbed to the left chest and who had shortness of breath.
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What we see here is a long axis view of a pneumothorax.
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Let's take a look at the chest wall anteriorly, and right below that we see the parietal pleura, the single white line located directly inferior to the ribs,
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but notice the classic lack of the lung sliding.
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All we see here is a single white line that fails to slide back and forth as the patient breathes.
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Notice also the absence of the vertical comet tails.
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Here's another image of a pneumothorax in a long axis configuration, and we see here the chest wall anteriorly and the single white line which is the parietal pleura.
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Now this patient was acutely dyspneic, so notice that there is some motion of the chest wall and that the parietal pleura moves up and down, but notice the failure of horizontal sliding.
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Notice also the absence of any vertical comet tails coming off the back of the pleura.
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Now let's inspect a pneumothorax from the short axis view.
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We see the chest wall anteriorly, the parietal pleura as shown as a single non -mobile white line in the middle of the image.
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Note the failure of movement back and forth, the lack of vertical comet tails, and what we see here is repeating horizontal air lines from the pneumothorax.
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To document the absence of lung sliding and the presence of a pneumothorax, we'll again turn to M -mode.
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If we put the M -mode cursor down on the pleura, what we'll see is a set of linear repeating lines.
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This documents no motion of both the chest wall and of the lung, making up a finding known as the barcode sign.
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Here's a pictorial showing an interesting finding, the signature of an incomplete pneumothorax known as lead point.
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And what we see is an incomplete pneumothorax with error collecting to the superior aspect of the image to the left,
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thus splitting the parietal from the visceral layers and causing an absence of lung sliding superiorly.
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However, as the lung is coming up against the chest wall to the right or inferiorly,
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that's where we'll see the presence of horizontal lung sliding and the presence of the vertical comet tails.
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Here's an ultrasound image showing the lead point and what we see here is the lung sliding to the right, the area where the lung touches up against the chest wall and to the left,
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the area of absence of lung sliding telling you there that air has collected between the visceral and parietal layers.
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So the ultrasound equivalent of the image that we just looked at telling you that this is an incomplete pneumothorax.
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But here we see that lead point or transition point very well on bedside sonography.
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In conclusion, I'm glad I could share with you this ultrasound module going over ultrasound of the lung to evaluate for pneumothorax.
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This is an excellent tool for viewing the pleura and making the diagnosis of pneumothorax.
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And there's been some research showing that it may be more sensitive than chest X -ray in the diagnosis of pneumothorax, allowing rapid diagnosis of pneumo in both your trauma and medical patient,
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thus facilitating more timely management of these most critical patients.
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So I hope to see you back as SoundBytes continues.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “How To: Ultrasound for Pneumothorax Case Study Video”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: lung, pleura, pneumothorax, axis, chest. This video has 91 sentences and 1719 words to shadow. The speech runs for 9:11. The speaker talks fast, about 187 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. Only 73% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| lung noun | /ˈlʌŋ/ | A biological organ of vertebrates that controls breathing and oxygenates the blood. |
| axis noun | /ˈæksɪs/ | An imaginary line around which an object spins (an axis of rotation) or is symmetrically arranged (an axis of symmetry). |
| ultrasound noun | /ʌl.tɹə.saʊnd/ | Sound with a frequency greater than the upper limit of human hearing, which is approximately 20 kilohertz. |
| tail noun | /ˈteɪ̯l/ | An object or part of an object resembling a tail in shape, such as the thongs on a cat-o'-nine-tails; a strand of material hanging from something. |
| slide noun | /ˈslaɪ̯d/ | An item of play equipment that children can climb up and then slide down again. |
| comet noun | /ˈkɒmɪt/ | A small Solar System body consisting mainly of volatile ice, dust and particles of rock whose very eccentric solar orbit periodically brings it close enough to… |
| configuration noun | /kənˌfɪɡ.əˈɹeɪ̯.ʃən/ | The form of a thing, as depending on the relative placement of the parts of a thing's shape. |
| vertical adjective | /ˈvɝ.tɪ.kəl/ | Standing, pointing, or moving straight up or down; parallel to the local direction of gravity; along the direction of a plumb line; perpendicular to something… |
| rib noun | /ɹɪb/ | Any of a series of long curved bones occurring in 12 pairs in humans and other animals and extending from the spine to or toward the sternum. |
| breathe verb | /bɹiːð/ | To draw air into (inhale), and expel air from (exhale), the lungs in order to extract oxygen and excrete waste gases. |
| examination noun | /ɪɡˌzæm.ɪˈneɪ.ʃən/ | The act of examining. |
| layer noun | /ˈleɪ̯ɚ/ | A single thickness of some material covering a surface. |
| probe noun | /pɹoʊb/ | Any of various medical instruments used to explore wounds, organs, etc. |
| absence noun | /ˈæb.s(ə)n̩s/ | A state of being away or withdrawn from a place or from companionship |
| diagnosis noun | /daɪəɡˈnəʊsɪs/ | The process of, or an instance of, identification of the nature and cause of a medical condition or illness. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| come off verb | To become detached. | |
| make up verb | /ˌmeɪk ˈʌp/ | To constitute, to compose. |
| come up against verb | To face (someone, something) in a match, problem, competition or fight. | |
| going over noun | An inspection, examination, review, or investigation. | |
| move back verb | To reschedule (something) to a later date or time. | |
| move up verb | To promote, put onto a higher level. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have shown · There's been · has been found |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | has been found · is located · is seen |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | sliding, which is · pleura, which is · line which is |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 16 contractions and reduced forms, such as we'll, we're, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: breathe /bɹiːð/, pneumothorax /ˈnju.moʊˌθɔ.ɹæks/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: configuration /kənˌfɪɡ.əˈɹeɪ̯.ʃən/, examination /ɪɡˌzæm.ɪˈneɪ.ʃən/, transition /tɹænˈzɪʃ.ən/, shadow /ˈʃædəʊ̯/, conclusion /kənˈkluːʒən/
- Long words — get the stress right: configuration /kənˌfɪɡ.əˈɹeɪ̯.ʃən/, examination /ɪɡˌzæm.ɪˈneɪ.ʃən/, superior /sʊˈpɪɹ.i.ɚ/, horizontal /ˌhoɹəˈzɑn.təl/, inferior /ɪnˈfɪɹ.i.ɚ/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like lung, axis, ultrasound.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.