SynthesisHeart (British Cardiac Society)2021
Diagnostic accuracy of handheld cardiac ultrasound device for assessment of left ventricular structure and function: systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Heart (British Cardiac Society), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 38 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
- Handheld Ultrasound: Technical Review and International Expert Consensus Recommendations.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Assessment of cardiac image quality from single-probe handheld ultrasound devices.European heart journal. Imaging methods and practice · 2026Article
- Diagnostic accuracy and clinical impact of internist-performed point-of-care ultrasound in atrial fibrillation: a multicenter study.Internal and emergency medicine · 2026Article
- The Future of Imaging in Heart Failure: Toward Precision Phenotyping, Integration, and Intelligence.Current heart failure reports · 2026Review
- Diagnostic Tests for Stage B Heart Failure.Current cardiology reports · 2026Review
- HFSUNet: A UNet architecture optimized for precise segmentation of pneumonia lesion boundaries.iScience · 2026Article
- Performance evaluation of the TE Air wireless handheld ultrasound in cardiac applications: a prospective comparative study.The ultrasound journal · 2025Article
- Heart at Hand: The Role of Point-of-Care Cardiac Ultrasound in Internal Medicine.Journal of cardiovascular development and disease · 2025Review
- A tale of two echoes: ultraportable versus standard echocardiography in patients with left ventricular dysfunction.Internal medicine journal · 2025Article
- Reliability of spectral Doppler in handheld ultrasonographic device.The international journal of cardiovascular imaging · 2025Article
- Obstructive Shock Resulting From Right Atrial Collapse Compressed by Hepatomegaly: A Case Report.Cureus · 2025Article
- Case Report: Point of Care Ultrasound for Bedside Diagnosis of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy in the Post-anesthesia Care Unit.SN comprehensive clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Clinical Relevance of Senior-Supervised Transthoracic Echocardiography in Clinical Practice and Research: An Editorial Commentary and Systematic Review.Echocardiography (Mount Kisco, N.Y.) · 2025Article
- Comparison of 6 handheld ultrasound devices by point-of-care ultrasound experts: a cross-sectional study.The ultrasound journal · 2024Article
- Comparing New Smartphone-Connected Handheld Ultrasound Device vs. Traditional Ultrasound in Vitreo-Retinal Disease Diagnosis.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Nurse-led home-based detection of cardiac dysfunction by ultrasound: results of the CUMIN pilot study.European heart journal. Digital health · 2024Article
- The Performance Characteristics of Handheld, Non-Piezoelectric Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) in the Emergency Department.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Reasons for disagreement between screening and standard echocardiography in primary care: data from the PROVAR + study : Disagreement between screening and standard echo.The international journal of cardiovascular imaging · 2023Article
- Handheld Echocardiography Measurements Concordance and Findings Agreement: An Exploratory Study.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 7 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveHandheld ultrasound devices (HUD) has diagnostic value in the assessment of patients with suspected left ventricular (LV) dysfunction. This meta-analysis evaluates the diagnostic ability of HUD compared with transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and assesses the importance of operator experience.
methodsMEDLINE and EMBASE databases were searched in October 2020. Diagnostic studies using HUD and TTE imaging to determine LV dysfunction were included. Pooled sensitivities and specificities, and summary receiver operating characteristic curves were used to determine the diagnostic ability of HUD and evaluate the impact of operator experience on test accuracy.
resultsThirty-three studies with 6062 participants were included in the meta-analysis. Experienced operators could predict reduced LV ejection fraction (LVEF), wall motion abnormality (WMA), LV dilatation and LV hypertrophy with pooled sensitivities of 88%, 85%, 89% and 85%, respectively, and pooled specificities of 96%, 95%, 98% and 91%, respectively. Non-experienced operators are able to detect cardiac abnormalities with reasonable sensitivity and specificity. There was a significant difference in the diagnostic accuracy between experienced and inexperienced users in LV dilatation, LVEF (moderate/severe) and WMA. The diagnostic OR for LVEF (moderate/severe), LV dilatation and WMA in an experienced hand was 276 (95% CI 58 to 1320), 225 (95% CI 87 to 578) and 90 (95% CI 31 to 265), respectively, compared with 41 (95% CI 18 to 94), 45 (95% CI 16 to 123) and 28 (95% CI 20 to 41), respectively, for inexperienced users.
conclusionThis meta-analysis is the first to establish HUD as a powerful modality for predicting LV size and function. Experienced operators are able to accurately diagnose cardiac disease using HUD. A cautious, supervised approach should be implemented when imaging is performed by inexperienced users. This study provides a strong rationale for considering HUD as an auxiliary tool to physical examination in secondary care, to aid clinical decision making when considering referral for TTE. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42020182429.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.