The use of cardiac point-of-care ultrasound (P.O.C.U.S.) is underutilized in the field of internal medicine for the assessment of patients with cardiac complaints. Numerous studies in emergency medicine, anesthesia, and critical care have demonstrated the successful application of cardiac P.O.C.U.S. in resident and attending physicians with limited prior exposure. This article review overviews the practical implementation of cardiac P.O.C.U.S. for hospitalists by discussing proper technique and assessment for common pathology seen in the medical ward setting. We describe how to assess for left ventricular (LV) systolic function, right ventricular (RV) systolic function, suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS), post-myocardial infarction (MI) complications, suspected pulmonary embolus, and assessment of intravascular volume status. In each section, we overview the pertinent literature to show how cardiac P.O.C.U.S. has been used to directly impact patient care.
Keyphrases
- left ventricular
- acute coronary syndrome
- heart failure
- hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
- healthcare
- left atrial
- cardiac resynchronization therapy
- magnetic resonance imaging
- primary care
- blood pressure
- mitral valve
- acute myocardial infarction
- aortic stenosis
- pulmonary embolism
- emergency medicine
- systematic review
- percutaneous coronary intervention
- atrial fibrillation
- quality improvement
- computed tomography
- transcatheter aortic valve replacement
- antiplatelet therapy
- clinical evaluation