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European Journal of Echocardiography 2004 5(6):400; doi:10.1016/j.euje.2004.10.001
© 2004 by European Society of Cardiology
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Copyright © 2004, The European Society of Cardiology

New frontiers in echocardiography: hand-carried ultrasound devices

Erik Sloth, MD, PhD, DMSc, Consultant of Cardiothoracic Anaesthesiology*

Department of Anaesthesiology, Skejby Sygehus, Aarhus University Hospital, 8200 Aarhus N, Denmark

* Tel.: +45 8949 5566. sloth{at}dadlnet.dk

Sir,

It was with great interest I joined Euroecho 2003 in Barcelona in December.

As an anaesthesiologist and intensivist I found the secession "New frontiers in echocardiography: "Hand-carried ultrasound devices (HCU)"" very exciting.

All speakers heavily advocated for a more widespread use of echocardiography with statements such as, "Not only cardiologists, but all health care personal should learn TTE, also in the primary care". The question: "Who will use these devices?", was answered "every one" and it was suggested that guidelines for other than cardiologists should be made and that "cardiologists should teach intensivists".

My question is, is this the general opinion among cardiologists or only representative for a small group of HCU enthusiasts?

Another interesting issue was the fact that the advertised expansion was not founded on new and scientifically based data. The only arguments were that HCU's make TTE easier. "In five years everybody has a pocket machine", was an argument.

Portable or not should not be decisive. TTE should be carried out on clinical indications – diagnostic or for hemodynamic optimisation. The goal is to get the right information on the physiological determinants (preload, afterload, contractility, compliance and relaxation) together with present pathology in time and by means of the best method. These considerations are the basis for the arguments we adduce as anaesthesiologists and intensivists in the encouragement for a more widespread use of TTE.

Finally, I noticed that none of the speakers advocated for the use of pleura scanning as a routine. We use a brief TTE protocol where pleura scanning is an integrated part and this has quite often led to dramatic findings and consequently therapy change. I will, therefore, encourage all users of TTE to take up pleura scanning especially in critically ill patients so that TTE comprise both cardiac and pulmonary screening and monitoring.

Sincerely,


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This Article
Right arrow Extract Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
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Right arrow Email this article to a friend
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Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
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Right arrow Articles by Sloth, E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
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Right arrow Articles by Sloth, E.
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