Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 14, 2026
Hemodynamic Precision in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit using Targeted Neonatal Echocardiography
Published on: January 27, 2023
Effectiveness of simulator-based echocardiography training of noncardiologists in congenital heart diseases
Robert Wagner1, Vit Razek, Florentine Gräfe
1Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Heart Center, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany. robert.wagner@med.uni-leipzig.de
Insights
Simulator training significantly improved residents' ability to diagnose congenital heart diseases (CHD) using echocardiography. This method offers effective training for diagnosing CHD, even with limited resources.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Cardiology
- Diagnostic Imaging
Background:
- Congenital heart diseases (CHD) cause significant neonatal morbidity and mortality.
- Non-cardiologists often make preliminary CHD diagnoses, highlighting a need for specialized training.
- Limited resources in specialized centers hinder effective echocardiography training for CHD.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of the EchoCom echocardiography simulator for training residents in diagnosing CHD.
- To assess the impact of simulator-based training on diagnostic accuracy and knowledge of CHD echocardiography.
Main Methods:
- Ten residents underwent simulator-based training using the EchoCom system.
- Training included familiarization with the simulator and practice diagnosing 9 common CHD cases.
- Participants completed pre- and post-training assessments, including multiple-choice questions and performance tests.
Main Results:
- Most participating residents had minimal to no prior experience in pediatric echocardiography.
- Significant improvements were observed in both multiple-choice test scores and performance test results post-training.
- The simulator effectively enhanced diagnostic skills and theoretical knowledge of CHD echocardiography.
Conclusions:
- Simulator-based training is a highly effective method for teaching echocardiography of congenital heart diseases.
- This approach can supplement traditional training methods and expand access to CHD echocardiography education.
- EchoCom simulator training shows promise for improving diagnostic capabilities in CHD.
Background:
Congenital heart diseases (CHD) are responsible for substantial morbidity and mortality in neonates. The preliminary diagnosis often is made by noncardiologists. For this reason, there is a huge demand of training in echocardiography of CHD. This is difficult to achieve due to limited resources of specialized centers.
Objective:
The goal of this study was to investigate the training effect of the echocardiography simulator EchoCom on trainee's ability to diagnose CHD.
Design/Methods:
We enrolled 10 residents for simulator-based training in echocardiography of CHD. All participants were instructed on the simulator's basic handling and had one hour to scan the first 9 datasets information (ventricular septal defect, atrial septal defect, atrioventricular septal defect, Tetralogy of Fallot, transposition of great arteries, congenital corrected transposition of great arteries, common arterial trunk, hypoplastic left heart syndrome, normal anatomy) and establish a diagnosis. No help was given except for support regarding simulator related issues. Afterward, 2 rounds of structured simulator based echocardiography training focused on echocardiographic anatomy, spatial orientation, standard views, and echocardiographic anatomy of different CHD followed. All participants completed a standardized questionnaire containing 10 multiple-choice (MC) questions focusing on basic theoretical knowledge in echocardiographic anatomy and common CHD.
Results:
Almost all of the residents invited from the affiliated children's hospital had little (20%) or no experience (80%) in echocardiography of CHD. Their Pretest and Posttest scores showed significant improvement for both, MC test and performance test, respectively.
Conclusions:
Our study showed that simulator-based training in echocardiography in CHD could be very effective and may assist with training outside the scope of CHD.
Related Concept Videos
01:17Imaging Studies for Cardiovascular System I:Echocardiography
Indications: Echocardiography is utilized to diagnose heart failure, valve disorders, and myocardial infarction. It also assesses cardiac structures' size, shape, and motion, evaluates...
01:20Imaging Studies for Cardiovascular System II:Types of Echocardiography
Types of Echocardiography
Transthoracic Echocardiography (TTE)
TTE is the most common type of echocardiogram which involves placing a transducer on the patient's chest, emitting sound waves to create heart images. TTE is invaluable for evaluating the heart's size, structure, and motion, making it particularly useful for diagnosing...