Point-of-care echocardiography - A road to future or a step backwards

Echocardiography (Echo) has a myriad of clinical applications. Traditionally, it was performed and interpreted by cardiologist but the scope of its applications has lead physicians of other specialities to learn this useful skill. One of the newer and expanding scope of echocardiography is point-of-care (POC) echocardiography. In this review article, we aim to discuss the clinical applications of POC echo, common protocols and its limitations. Despite its widespread use, there is paucity of data describing its clinical efficacy and there is lack of guidelines regarding credentialing and quality control of POC echo.