ArticleEcho research and practice2016
Focused cardiac ultrasound is feasible in the general practice setting and alters diagnosis and management of cardiac disease.
Article in Echo research and practice, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Management of Echocardiography Requests for the Detection and Follow-Up of Heart Valve Disease: A Consensus Statement From the British Heart Valve Society.Clinical cardiology · 2025Guideline
- Point-of-care ultrasound improves the diagnosis of heart failure in patients with dyspnea in primary care.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Impact of Bedside Combined Cardiopulmonary Ultrasound on Etiological Diagnosis and Treatment of Acute Respiratory Failure in Critically Ill Patients.Indian journal of critical care medicine : peer-reviewed, official publication of Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine · 2020Article
- Article
- Reliability of focused cardiac ultrasound performed by first-year internal medicine residents at a community hospital after a short training.Journal of community hospital internal medicine perspectives · 2019Article
- Point-of-care B-type natriuretic peptide and portable echocardiography for assessment of patients with suspected heart failure in primary care: rationale and design of the three-part Handheld-BNP program and results of the training study.Clinical research in cardiology : official journal of the German Cardiac Society · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundUltrasound-assisted examination of the cardiovascular system with focused cardiac ultrasound by the treating physician is non-invasive and changes diagnosis and management of patient's with suspected cardiac disease. This has not been reported in a general practice setting.
aimTo determine whether focused cardiac ultrasound performed on patients aged over 50 years changes the diagnosis and management of cardiac disease by a general practitioner. DESIGN AND
settingA prospective observational study of 80 patients aged over 50years and who had not received echocardiography or chest CT within 12months presenting to a general practice.
methodClinical assessment and management of significant cardiac disorders in patients presenting to general practitioners were recorded before and after focused cardiac ultrasound. Echocardiography was performed by a medical student with sufficient training, which was verified by an expert. Differences in diagnosis and management between conventional and ultrasound-assisted assessment were recorded. RESULTS AND
conclusionEchocardiography and interpretation were acceptable in all patients. Significant cardiac disease was detected in 16 (20%) patients, including aortic stenosis in 9 (11%) and cardiac failure in 7 (9%), which were missed by clinical examination in 10 (62.5%) of these patients. Changes in management occurred in 12 patients (15% overall and 75% of those found to have significant cardiac disease) including referral for diagnostic echocardiography in 8 (10%), commencement of heart failure treatment in 3 (4%) and referral to a cardiologist in 1 patient (1%).Routine focused cardiac ultrasound is feasible and frequently alters the diagnosis and management of cardiac disease in patients aged over 50years presenting to a general practice.
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