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Updated: Aug 18, 2026

Echocardiographic Assessment Using Subxiphoid-Only Examination for Hypotensive Patients
Published on: April 18, 2025
A structured 5-question approach for echocardiographic evaluation of undifferentiated shock
Claire Colebourn1,2, Richard Fisher3
1University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
Abstract:
Shock is the clinical state whereby the patient's circulation fails to meet the body's metabolic demands. Both acute illnesses that lead to shock and therapies employed to support the shocked patient (including intravenous fluids, vasoactive infusions and ventilatory support) may result in changes to the normal function of the heart. The conventional approach to interpretation of echocardiography in the steady physiological state needs modification when this test is applied to the shocked patient. In this paper we explain when and why modifications are required, and provide echocardiographers already established in outpatient practice with a practical approach to performing and reporting echocardiograms in shocked patients.
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