Key result
Hand-held echo achieves ~93% agreement with standard echo during complex EP procedures while saving time.
Why the study?
Accurate and rapid recognition of cardiac pathologies is essential during complex electrophysiologic procedures, but whether hand-held echocardiography can serve as a practical and reliable tool compared with standard echocardiography was undetermined.
Does hand-held echocardiography provide similar diagnostic accuracy and faster evaluation time compared to standard echocardiography in patients undergoing complex electrophysiologic procedures?
Observational (n=100)
Does hand-held echocardiography provide similar diagnostic accuracy and faster evaluation time compared to standard echocardiography in patients undergoing complex electrophysiologic procedures?
p-value: p=<0.001
Hand-held echocardiography is a practical, reliable, and faster alternative to standard echocardiography for detecting cardiac pathologies during complex electrophysiologic procedures.
May support selective use in electrophysiologic labs; leaves open need for randomized trials before practice change.
Introduction: Complex electrophysiologic (EP) procedures are time consuming and open to complications. Accurate and rapid recognition of cardiac pathologies is essential before, during, and immediately after such procedures. In this study, we aimed to compare hand-held echocardiography (HHE) with standard echocardiography (SE) to determine whether HHE can be used as a practical and reliable diagnostic tool during such procedures. Methods: One hundred consecutive patients undergoing complex EP procedures and catheter ablation were included in the study. All patients were evaluated with SE or HHE in terms of main cardiac pathologies at the beginning and immediately after the procedure. The diagnostic accuracy and evaluation time of both methods were compared at the beginning and after the procedure. The agreement between both methods was calculated. Results: <0.001 for all). There was significant agreement between the two methods in the diagnosis of cardiac pathologies (Agreement was 95% for minimal mild aortic regurgitation (AR), 99% for moderate/ severe AR, 93% for minimal/ mild mitral regurgitation (MR), 95% for moderate/ severe MR, 100% for pericardial effusion, and 100% for left ventricular thrombus at the beginning of the procedure). Conclusion: With the use of HHE during complex EP procedures, cardiac pathologies can be diagnosed with similar accuracy as SE. In addition, HHE has a significant advantage over SE in terms of time to diagnosis.
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Murat et al. (2023) conducted an observational in Complex electrophysiologic procedures and catheter ablation (n=100). Hand-held echocardiography vs. Standard echocardiography was evaluated on Diagnostic accuracy, evaluation time, and agreement between methods (p=<0.001). Hand-held echocardiography during complex electrophysiologic procedures showed 93-100% agreement with standard echocardiography for diagnosing cardiac pathologies, with a significant time advantage.
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