title: Diagnostic accuracy of pocket-size handheld echocardiographs used by cardiologists in the acute care setting.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Pocket-size echographs may be useful for bedside diagnosis in acute cardiac care, but their diagnostic accuracy in this setting has not been well tested. Our aim was to evaluate this tool in patients requiring an urgent echocardiogram.
  
  
  METHODS
  Trained cardiologists performed echocardiograms with a pocket-size echograph (Vscan) in consecutive patients requiring urgent echocardiography. The exams were then compared in a blinded manner with echocardiograms performed with a high-end standard echocardiograph.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 104 patients were studied. There was an excellent agreement between the Vscan and the high-end echocardiograph for the left ventricular systolic function and pericardial effusion (Kappa: 0.89 and 0.81, respectively), and the agreement was good or moderate for evaluating the aortic, mitral, and tricuspid valve function and the left ventricular size (Kappa: 0.55-0.66). Visualization of the Vscan images in full-screen format on a PC did not in general confer added value.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Vscan used by a trained cardiologist has good diagnostic accuracy in the emergency setting compared with a high-end echocardiograph, despite small screen size and lack of pulse-wave and continuous Doppler.
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Service, University Hospital, 4, rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil, 1211 Geneva 14, Switzerland. ariane.testuz@hcuge.ch
authors.forename: Ariane
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Testuz
authors.forename: Hajo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: Pierre-Frédéric
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.forename: Tomoe
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stampfli
authors.forename: Lucka
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sekoranja
authors.forename: Cédric
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vuille
authors.forename: Haran
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Burri
mesh_terms: D001021:Aortic Valve / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D002309:Cardiology / Q000639:trends; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000295:instrumentation; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D004867:Equipment Design; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D008904:Miniaturization; D008943:Mitral Valve / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D010490:Pericardial Effusion / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014261:Tricuspid Valve / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*