Key result
Handheld echocardiography demonstrated excellent concordance with standard echocardiography for left ventricular ejection fraction, ventricular size and function, and stenotic valve lesions (κ > 0.80).
Why the study?
The utility and agreement of handheld echocardiography compared with standard echocardiography during common daily practice remained to be assessed.
Does handheld echocardiography provide concordant results compared to standard echocardiography in adult outpatients?
Observational (n=108)
Single-blind
Does handheld echocardiography provide concordant results compared to standard echocardiography in adult outpatients?
Effect estimate: κ > 0.80
Handheld echocardiography provides excellent concordance with standard echocardiography for assessing ventricular size, function, and stenotic lesions when performed by experienced users, though it is less reliable for regurgitant lesions.
May support bedside HH use in outpatients; leaves open whether it can replace standard echocardiography.
BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to assess the utility of a handheld device (HH) used during common daily practice and its agreement with the results of a standard echocardiography study (STD) performed by experienced sonographers and echocardiographer. METHODS: A prospective follow-up was conducted in an adult outpatient echocardiography clinic. Experienced sonographers performed the STD and an experienced echocardiographer performed the HH. STD included 2-dimensional images, Doppler and hemodynamics analysis. Hemodynamic assessment was not performed with the HH device because the HH does not include such technology. The images were interpreted by blinded echocardiographers, and the agreement between the reports was analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 108 patients were included; and the concordance for left ventricle (LV) ejection fraction (EF), wall motion score index, LV and right ventricle (RV) function, RV size, and mitral and aortic stenosis was excellent with κ values greater than 0.80. Wall motion abnormalities had good concordance (κ value 0.78). The agreement for LV hypertrophy, mitral and aortic regurgitation was moderate, and tricuspid and pulmonary regurgitation agreements were low (κ values of 0.26 and 0.25, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: In a daily practice scenario with experienced hands, HH demonstrated good correlation for most echocardiography indications, such as ventricular size and function assessment and stenosis valve lesion analyses.
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Blume et al. (2021) conducted an observational in Outpatient echocardiography (n=108). Handheld echocardiography vs. Standard echocardiography was evaluated on Concordance between handheld and standard echocardiography reports (κ > 0.80). Handheld echocardiography demonstrated excellent concordance with standard echocardiography for left ventricular ejection fraction, ventricular size and function, and stenotic valve lesions (κ > 0.80).
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