Time requirements of the standard echocardiogram: implications regarding limited studies

Although no formal detailed definitions exist, a standard echocardiogram should easily be differentiated from a limited examination by its comprehensive nature and time requirement.

We evaluated the time required to perform each specific component of a comprehensive echocardiography examination and applied these data to compare the time required to complete 3 limited imaging protocols.

In all, 7 experienced sonographers were timed in their performance of a comprehensive echocardiographic examination on a healthy patient. A total of 3 limited imaging protocols were then constructed to evaluate for pericardial effusion, wall motion, and left ventricle size. The time necessary to complete each protocol was calculated by adding the average time required to perform all of its components and was compared with the comprehensive examination.

The imaging time required to complete a standard study was 26 +/- 5.4 minutes (range: 20-32). The percentage of total study time spent on 2-dimensional imaging, M-mode, color Doppler, and spectral components was 31 +/- 2.9%, 11 +/- 3.6%, 17 +/- 2.9%, and 39 +/- 5.0%, respectively. The calculated time needed to perform a limited protocol was less than 5 minutes, resulting in a greater than 80% reduction in time compared with the standard examination.

Time analysis of components of the standard echocardiography examination can be used to construct appropriate, time-efficient, limited, cardiac ultrasound imaging examinations and differentiate limited from comprehensive studies.