Lung ultrasonography (LUS) is essential for diagnosing and managing adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) due to its bedside accessibility and availability across different resource settings. It aids in diagnosis and monitoring of ARDS progression and treatment response, while also offering potential for subphenotyping.

In ARDS patients, LUS patterns consist of bilateral B-lines and consolidations and can be differentiated from cardiogenic pulmonary edema by looking for pleural abnormalities or spared regions of lung.

The Kigali modification of the Berlin definition first proposed LUS criteria for ARDS, specifically designed for limited resource settings where access to imaging and ventilators is scarce.

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