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[Usefulness of hand-held echocardiography in emergency room]
Rubén Leta1, Francesc Carreras, Xavier Borrás
1Servicio de Cardiología. Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau. Barcelona. España. rleta@hsp.santpau.es
Insights
Handheld echocardiography, a portable ultrasound of the heart, is a valuable tool for emergency departments. Even with basic training, medical personnel can effectively use this technology to aid diagnoses and treatment decisions.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Medical Imaging
- Point-of-Care Diagnostics
Context:
- Emergency departments face challenges in rapid patient assessment.
- Handheld echocardiography offers a potential solution for real-time cardiac evaluation.
- The utility of this technology by non-specialist personnel requires investigation.
Purpose:
- To assess the diagnostic and therapeutic impact of handheld echocardiography in an emergency setting.
- To evaluate the feasibility of its use by medical staff with basic echocardiography training.
- To determine the reliability of findings between experienced and less experienced operators.
Summary:
- A cardiologist and a cardiology fellow with basic training evaluated 33 emergency patients using a handheld echocardiography device.
- The echocardiograms influenced diagnosis in 27% and treatment in 46% of patients.
- Forty-nine percent of patients were discharged early due to the findings, and inter-observer agreement was acceptable.
Impact:
- Handheld echocardiography can significantly alter patient management in emergency settings.
- Basic training is sufficient for medical personnel to effectively utilize this diagnostic tool.
- This technology facilitates quicker decision-making and potential early discharge for emergency patients.
Background And Objective:
Handheld echocardiography may be a powerful diagnostic tool in the emergency room. However, its usefulness in this environment when it is performed by medical personnel with a basic training in echocardiography remains to be clarified.
Patients And Method:
A cardiologist with expertise in echocardiography and a cardiology fellow with basic training evaluated 33 patients admitted in emergency using a handheld device.
Results:
The echocardiogram led to a change in the diagnosis and treatment in 27% and 46% of patients, respectively, allowing an early discharge in 49% of cases. The agreement between the two observers was acceptable.
Conclusions:
Portable echocardiography is a useful tool in emergency rooms and may be reliably performed by medical personnel with basic training in echocardiography.