• Martin Ruben Skou Jørgensen, Peter Juhl-Olsen, Christian Alcaraz Frederiksen, and Erik Sloth.
• aDepartment of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine bDepartment of Cardiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.
• Curr Opin Anaesthesiol. 2016 Feb 1; 29 (1): 46-54.

Purpose Of ReviewA need for further assessment of patients in the perioperative setting and an increasing availability of ultrasonography equipment have facilitated the diffusion of ultrasonography and lately focused transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) in anesthesiology practice. This review will discuss the possible use of focused TTE in the perioperative setting and provides an update on present and future perspectives.Recent FindingsSeveral studies focusing on patient management and diagnostic accuracy of perioperative, focused TTE, have been published recently. Several multidisciplinary guidelines addressing use and educational aspects of focused ultrasonography are available, yet guidelines focusing solely on the use in the perioperative setting are lacking.SummaryHemodynamically significant cardiac disease or pathophysiology can be disclosed using TTE. Focused TTE is feasible for perioperative patient management and monitoring and will be an inevitable and indispensable tool for the anesthetist. Future research should focus on the outcome of perioperative TTE performed by anesthetists, using rigorous study designs and patient-centered outcomes such as mortality and morbidity.

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