Portable echocardiographs: useful or futile?
Vignon, P.
Archives des Maladies du Coeur et des Vaisseaux 96(12): 1202-1209
2003
ISSN/ISBN: 0003-9683 PMID: 15248447 Document Number: 553592
Echocardiographic systems which are the size of a laptop computer are currently available. These hand-held ultrasound units are very easy to use at patient bedside in various clinical settings. According to the miniaturized devices, spectral Doppler may not be available and power Doppler may replace true color Doppler. Validation studies of hand-held echocardiography have been conducted in critically ill patients, in patients hospitalized in ward, but also in outpatients and as a screening tool for the detection of cardiac abnormalities in the community. Hand-held echocardiography appears to have important limitations in specific clinical settings, such as shock, pulmonary hypertension, assessment of valvulopathy or valvular prosthesis, dynamic left outflow tract obstruction, left ventricular restriction or construction. The miniaturized system with spectral Doppler capability has not yet been properly validated in these indications. At its present stage of development, hand-carried ultrasound units do not allow to perform a comprehensive examination which relies on the use of a full-feature system, especially when a precise hemodynamic evaluation is required. Diagnostic ability of hand-held echocardiography is similar to that of upper-end platforms for diagnoses based on two-dimensional imaging: left ventricular systolic function, detection of wall motion abnormalities, size of cardiac chambers, identification of pericardial or pleural effusions. Hand-carried ultrasound devices may be considered as a "visual stethoscope" which provides an extension of the physical examination, but not as a potential alternative to standard transthoracic echocardiography. Its large potential clinical field of use raises the concern of taylored training programs to intensivists which could be focused on goal-directed echocardiographic examinations.