Cardiac Ultrasound

Excerpt

Cardiac ultrasound, or echocardiography, is a noninvasive diagnostic modality that can provide detailed hemodynamic information in a short period at the patient bedside. It was first adopted by cardiologists for diagnostic purposes in the 1960s, and later by emergency physicians as one of several point-of-care ultrasound applications spanning from head to toe. As a result of these two temporally and specialist independent adaptations, there are two different conventions used to perform a cardiac ultrasound exam, which will be discussed further.