[Possibilities of clinical echocardiography in patients with heart failure: some examples from clinical practice]

Clinical echocardiography is a fast, non-invasive and safe diagnostic method carried out at the patient's bedside by clinicians, not necessarily cardiologists, and can provide useful information about cardiac anatomy, with estimates of volumes, diameters, the presence or absence pericardial effusion, and visualization of ventricular wall motion and valve function. The most practical measure of ventricular function to distinguish between patients with systolic dysfunction and those with preserved systolic function is ejection fraction, which can be estimated approximately. The new small pocket echocardiography devices that have become available in recent years offer major advantages in terms of availability and their cost can be considered accessible compared with that of other devices. An undisputed practical advantage is their portability and ease of use. Clinical echocardiography is perfectly compatible with the subsequent performance of echocardiography by a highly qualified expert.