• Darsim L Haji, Alistair Royse, and Colin F Royse.
• Emergency Department, Frankston Hospital, Frankston, Victoria, Australia. darsim@bigpond.com
• Emerg Med Australas. 2013 Feb 1;25(1):4-12.

AbstractThere is increased realisation of the emerging role of point-of-care transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) as 'ultrasound-assisted examination', given the low sensitivity of clinical examination for cardiovascular pathologies and the time-critical nature of these pathologies. There is evidence that point-of-care TTE provides higher accuracy in patient assessment and management, with potential prognostic impact by assessing the severity of cardiac dysfunction and response to treatment. Point-of-care TTE is increasingly used by non-cardiologists, as a diagnostic, screening or monitoring tool. The literature shows that TTE identifies new clinical findings, and conversely can accurately rule out clinically important pathologies. Recent reports have examined more advanced ultrasound devices and patients in the critical care settings of emergency medicine, intensive care and anaesthesia. The diagnostic capability of new portable devices is improving rapidly and outdating its predecessors, thereby improving confidence in echocardiography findings.© 2012 The Authors. EMA © 2012 Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and Australasian Society for Emergency Medicine.

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