Articles

The Assessment of Competency in Thoracic Sonography (ACTS) scale: validation of a tool for point-of-care ultrasound

The rapid adoption of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) has created a need to develop assessment tools to ensure that learners can competently use these technologies. In this study, the authors developed and te...

Authors: Scott J. Millington, Robert T. Arntfield, Robert Jie Guo, Seth Koenig, Pierre Kory, Vicki Noble, Haney Mallemat and Jordan R. Schoenherr

Management of cardiopulmonary assist devices in critically ill patients using point-of-care transthoracic echocardiography: a case series

Point-of-care transthoracic echocardiography is increasingly being utilized by the intensive care physicians in the management of hemodynamically unstable patients. However, its use in the management of critic...

Authors: Babar Fiza, Michael Tang and Michael Maile

Evaluation of a short formation on the performance of point-of-care renal ultrasound performed by physicians without previous ultrasound skills: prospective observational study

Point-of-Care Ultrasound (PoCUS) is recommended by emergency medicine societies for the detection of hydronephrosis. Training of certified Emergency Physicians (EP) without prior ultrasound experience remains ...

Authors: François Javaudin, François Mounier, Philippe Pes, Idriss Arnaudet, Frédéric Vignaud, Eric Frampas and Philippe Le Conte

Postural lung recruitment assessed by lung ultrasound in mechanically ventilated children

Atelectasis is a common finding in mechanically ventilated children with healthy lungs. This lung collapse cannot be overcome using standard levels of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) and thus for only ...

Authors: Gerardo Tusman, Cecilia M. Acosta, Stephan H. Böhm, Andreas D. Waldmann, Carlos Ferrando, Manuel Perez Marquez and Fernando Suarez Sipmann

Point-of-care transcranial Doppler by intensivists

In the unconscious patient, there is a diagnostic void between the neurologic physical exam, and more invasive, costly and potentially harmful investigations. Transcranial color-coded sonography and two-dimens...

Authors: Vincent Issac Lau and Robert Thomas Arntfield

The relationship between single and two-dimensional indices of left ventricular size using hemodynamic transesophageal echocardiography in trauma and burn patients

Conventional echocardiographic technique for assessment of volume status and cardiac contractility utilizes left ventricular end-diastolic area (LVEDA) and fractional area of change (FAC), respectively. Our go...

Authors: Duraid Younan, T. Mark Beasley, David C. Pigott, C. Blayke Gibson, John P. Gullett, Jeffrey Richey, Jean-Francois Pittet and Ahmed Zaky

POCUS in perioperative medicine: a North American perspective

Ultrasound (US) performed at the point of care has found fertile ground in perioperative medicine. In the hands of anesthesiologists, transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) has become established as a powerful...

Authors: Lorenzo De Marchi and Massimiliano Meineri

Time to correct the flow of corrected flow time

Recently published study of Ma et al. evaluates two relatively novel measures of fluid responsiveness, carotid blood flow and corrected carotid flow time (ccFT). Both measures have been recently quoted as poss...

Authors: Igor Barjaktarevic, Alan Chiem and Maxime Cannesson

Bedside transcranial sonography monitoring in a patient with hydrocephalus post subarachnoid hemorrhage

Development of hydrocephalus can occur after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Typically, it is diagnosed with computed tomography, CT, scan. However, transcranial sonography (TCS) can be used particularly in pat...

Authors: Ahmed Najjar, André Y. Denault and Michel W. Bojanowski

Ultrasonography in trauma: a nation-wide cross-sectional investigation

The Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma (FAST) protocol is considered beneficial in emergent evaluation of trauma patients with blunt or penetrating injury and has become integrated into the Advanced ...

Authors: Jesper Weile, Klaus Nielsen, Stine C. Primdahl, Christian A. Frederiksen, Christian B. Laursen, Erik Sloth and Hans Kirkegaard

Transesophageal echocardiography in orthotopic liver transplantation: a comprehensive intraoperative monitoring tool

Intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography is a minimally invasive monitoring tool that can provide real-time visual information on ventricular function and hemodynamic volume status in patients undergoin...

Authors: Luigi Vetrugno, Federico Barbariol, Umberto Baccarani, Francesco Forfori, Giovanni Volpicelli and Giorgio Della Rocca

Right heart thrombus in transit: a series of two cases

Right heart thrombus in transit is an increasingly recognized medical emergency with very high mortality rate. Echocardiography helps to establish the diagnosis and can differentiate between right heart thromb...

Authors: Eva Otoupalova, Bhavinkumar Dalal and Brian Renard

A simplified lung ultrasound approach to detect increased extravascular lung water in critically ill patients

The quantification of B-lines at lung ultrasonography is a valid tool to estimate the extravascular lung water (EVLW) in patients after major cardiac surgery. However, there is still uncertainty about the corr...

Authors: Antonio Anile, Jole Russo, Giacomo Castiglione and Giovanni Volpicelli

Applicability of a modified EFAST protocol (r-EFAST) to evaluate hemodynamically unstable patients after percutaneous cardiac intervention

Percutaneous cardiac intervention is an invasive diagnostic and therapeutic technique which carries a significant complication rate. Although the usefulness of EFAST protocol is widely recognised, this paper w...

Authors: José Luis Vázquez Martínez, Kary Leonisa Quiñones Coneo, Tomas Villen Villegas, María Sánchez Porras, Cesar Pérez-Caballero Macarrón, Ana Coca Pérez and Luis Fernandez Pineda

Minimal training sufficient to diagnose pediatric wrist fractures with ultrasound

In children, non-fractured wrists generally need no treatment and those that are fractured may only require a 3-week cast without any clinical follow-up. The ability to perform a point-of-care triage decision ...

Authors: Henrik Hedelin, Christian Tingström, Hanna Hebelka and Jon Karlsson

Correlation of carotid blood flow and corrected carotid flow time with invasive cardiac output measurements

Non-invasive measures that can accurately estimate cardiac output may help identify volume-responsive patients. This study seeks to compare two non-invasive measures (corrected carotid flow time and carotid bl...

Authors: Irene W. Y. Ma, Joshua D. Caplin, Aftab Azad, Christina Wilson, Michael A. Fifer, Aranya Bagchi, Andrew S. Liteplo and Vicki E. Noble

A randomised crossover study to compare the cross-sectional and longitudinal approaches to ultrasound-guided peripheral venepuncture in a model

Ultrasound-guided peripheral intravenous access may present an alternative to central or intraosseous access in patients with difficult peripheral veins. Using venepuncture of a phantom model as a proxy, we in...

Authors: James Griffiths, Amadeus Carnegie, Richard Kendall and Rajeev Madan

The FAST D protocol: a simple method to rule out traumatic vascular injuries of the lower extremities

The aim of this study is to assess the accuracy of a Fast Doppler protocol for the examination of an injured lower limb, namely 2-Point Fast Doppler (2PFD), in order to rapidly triage arterial lesions after pe...

Authors: Miguel Angel Montorfano, Lisandro Miguel Montorfano, Federico Perez Quirante, Federico Rodríguez, Leonardo Vera and Luca Neri

Serial lung and IVC ultrasound in the assessment of congestive heart failure

Management of congestive heart failure (CHF) is dependent on clinical assessments of volume status, which are subjective and imprecise. Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is useful in the diagnosis of CHF, but h...

Authors: Rachel Spevack, Mohamed Al Shukairi, Dev Jayaraman, Jerrald Dankoff, Lawrence Rudski and Jed Lipes

Systematic review and meta-analysis for the use of ultrasound versus radiology in diagnosing of pneumonia

Physicians are increasingly using point of care lung ultrasound (LUS) for diagnosing pneumonia, especially in critical situations as it represents relatively easy and immediately available tool. They also used...

Authors: Saeed Ali Alzahrani, Majid Abdulatief Al-Salamah, Wedad Hussain Al-Madani and Mahmoud A. Elbarbary

Point-of-care ultrasound and Doppler ultrasound evaluation of vascular injuries in penetrating and blunt trauma

The aim of this study is to describe point-of-care ultrasound and Color flow Duplex Doppler characteristics of penetrating and blunt trauma-related vascular injuries of the limbs and neck.

Authors: Miguel Angel Montorfano, Fernando Pla, Leonardo Vera, Omar Cardillo, Stefano Geniere Nigra and Lisandro Miguel Montorfano

An easy-to-build, low-budget point-of-care ultrasound simulator: from Linux to a web-based solution

Hands-on training in point-of-care ultrasound (POC-US) should ideally comprise bedside teaching, as well as simulated clinical scenarios. High-fidelity phantoms and portable ultrasound simulation systems are c...

Authors: Domagoj Damjanovic, Ulrich Goebel, Benedikt Fischer, Martin Huth, Hartmut Breger, Hartmut Buerkle and Axel Schmutz

Erratum to: Pediatric emergency medicine point-of-care ultrasound: summary of the evidence

Authors: Jennifer R. Marin, Alyssa M. Abo, Alexander C. Arroyo, Stephanie J. Doniger, Jason W. Fischer, Rachel Rempell, Brandi Gary, James F. Holmes, David O. Kessler, Samuel H. F. Lam, Marla C. Levine, Jason A. Levy, Alice Murray, Lorraine Ng, Vicki E. Noble, Daniela Ramirez-Schrempp…

Point-of-care ultrasound identification of pneumatosis intestinalis in pediatric abdominal pain: a case report

We describe a case report of an infant with intussusception who presented to a pediatric emergency department with diarrhea and increased irritability. Pneumatosis intestinalis (intra-mural air) detected on po...

Authors: Vigil James, Aswin Warier, Khai Pin Lee and Gene Yong-Kwang Ong

Eliciting renal tenderness by sonopalpation in diagnosing acute pyelonephritis

Diagnosing acute pyelonephritis relies on the combination of historical, physical, and laboratory findings. Costovertebral angle tenderness is important, although its accuracy is unknown. Point-of-care ultraso...

Authors: Jeremy S. Faust and James W. Tsung

Doppler images of intra-pulmonary shunt within atelectasis in anesthetized children

Doppler images of pulmonary vessels in pulmonary diseases associated with subpleural consolidations have been described. Color Doppler easily identifies such vessels within consolidations while spectral Dopple...

Authors: Cecilia M. Acosta, Gerardo Tusman, Mauro Costantini, Camila Echevarría, Sergio Pollioto, Diego Abrego, Fernando Suarez-Sipmann and Stephan H. Böhm

Estimating the accuracy of optic nerve sheath diameter measurement using a pocket-sized, handheld ultrasound on a simulation model

Ultrasound measurement of optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) appears to be a promising, rapid, non-invasive bedside tool for identification of elevated intra-cranial pressure. With improvements in ultrasound t...

Authors: Garrett G. R. J. Johnson, Frederick A. Zeiler, Bertram Unger, Gregory Hansen, Dimitrios Karakitsos and Lawrence M. Gillman

Diagnostic accuracy of lung ultrasonography combined with procalcitonin for the diagnosis of pneumonia: a pilot study

The diagnostic value of lung ultrasonography (LUS) and procalcitonin (PCT) in the diagnosis of lung infections is known. No studies evaluated the combination of LUS and PCT for the diagnosis of pneumonia in th...

Authors: Peiman Nazerian, Gabriele Cerini, Simone Vanni, Chiara Gigli, Maurizio Zanobetti, Maurizio Bartolucci, Stefano Grifoni and Giovanni Volpicelli

Pediatric emergency medicine point-of-care ultrasound: summary of the evidence

The utility of point-of-care ultrasound is well supported by the medical literature. Consequently, pediatric emergency medicine providers have embraced this technology in everyday practice. Recently, the Ameri...

Authors: Jennifer R. Marin, Alyssa M. Abo, Alexander C. Arroyo, Stephanie J. Doniger, Jason W. Fischer, Rachel Rempell, Brandi Gary, James F. Holmes, David O. Kessler, Samuel H. F. Lam, Marla C. Levine, Jason A. Levy, Alice Murray, Lorraine Ng, Vicki E. Noble, Daniela Ramirez-Schrempp…

Common pitfalls in point-of-care ultrasound: a practical guide for emergency and critical care physicians

Point-of-care ultrasonography (POCUS) is a widely used tool in emergency and critical care settings, useful in the decision-making process as well as in interventional guidance. While having an impressive diag...

Authors: Pablo Blanco and Giovanni Volpicelli

The Sierra Leone Ultrasound Rainbow4Africa Project (SLURP): an observational study of ultrasound effectiveness in developing countries

Diagnostic tools available in low-income countries are often really basic even if patients can be as sick as those of the richer countries. Point-of-care ultrasound could be a solution for this problem. We stu...

Authors: Alessandro Lamorte, Enrico Boero, Paola Crida, Abdul R. Conteh, Marco Foletti and Paolo Narcisi

Erratum to: 12th WINFOCUS world congress on ultrasound in emergency and critical care

Authors: Edina Ćatić Ćuti, Nadan Rustemović and Dražen Perkov

12th WINFOCUS world congress on ultrasound in emergency and critical care

A1 Point-of-care ultrasound examination of cervical spine in emergency department

Authors: Yahya Acar, Onur Tezel, Necati Salman, Erdem Cevik, Margarita Algaba-Montes, Alberto Oviedo-García, Mayra Patricio-Bordomás, Mustafa Z. Mahmoud, Abdelmoneim Sulieman, Abbas Ali, Alrayah Mustafa, Ihab Abdelrahman, Mustafa Bahar, Osama Ali, H. Lester Kirchner, Gregor Prosen…

Teaching the internist to see: effectiveness of a 1-day workshop in bedside ultrasound for internal medicine residents

A growing body of evidence supports the use of bedside ultrasound for core Internal Medicine procedures and increasingly as augmentation of the physical exam. The literature also supports that trainees, both m...

Authors: Ryan D. Clay, Elizabeth C. Lee, Marc F. Kurtzman and Renee K. Dversdal

Lung ultrasound in internal medicine: training and clinical practice

Lung ultrasound (LUS) represents an emerging technique for bedside chest imaging in different clinical settings. A standardized approach allows the diagnosis, the quantification, and the follow-up of different...

Authors: Chiara Mozzini, Anna Maria Fratta Pasini, Ulisse Garbin and Luciano Cominacini

A unique method for estimating the reliability learning curve of optic nerve sheath diameter ultrasound measurement

Optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) measurement using ultrasound has been proposed as a rapid, non-invasive, point of care technique to estimate intra-cranial pressure (ICP). Ultrasonic measurement of the optic...

Authors: Frederick A. Zeiler, Markus T. Ziesmann, Patrick Goeres, Bertram Unger, Jason Park, Dimitrios Karakitsos, Michael Blaivas, Ashley Vergis and Lawrence M. Gillman

Ultrasonography for the assessment of lung recruitment maneuvers

Lung collapse is a known complication that affects most of the patients undergoing positive pressure mechanical ventilation. Such atelectasis and airways closure lead to gas exchange and lung mechanics impairm...

Authors: Gerardo Tusman, Cecilia M. Acosta and Mauro Costantini

Focused cardiopulmonary ultrasound for assessment of dyspnea in a resource-limited setting

The diagnosis and management of acutely dyspneic patients in resource-limited developing world settings poses a particular challenge. Focused cardiopulmonary ultrasound (CPUS) may assist in the emergency diagn...

Authors: Sachita P. Shah, Sachin P. Shah, Reginald Fils-Aime, Walkens Desir, Joanel Joasil, David M. Venesy and Krithika Meera Muruganandan

Current status of emergency department attending physician ultrasound credentialing and quality assurance in the United States

The use of emergency ultrasonography (EUS) has gained much popularity in the past few decades, and is now a mainstay of diagnostic decision-making. This expanded use is now highlighting the substantial issue o...

Authors: Devjani Das, Monica Kapoor, Cara Brown, Afoma Ndubuisi and Sanjey Gupta

A workflow task force affects emergency physician compliance for point-of-care ultrasound documentation and billing

Emergency point-of-care ultrasound (POC u/s) is an example of a health information technology that improves patient care and time to correct diagnosis. POC u/s examinations should be documented, as they compri...

Authors: Resa E. Lewiss, Jessica Cook, Allison Sauler, Nicholas Avitabile, Nicole L. Kaban, Jeffrey Rabrich, Turandot Saul, Sebastian D. Siadecki and Dan Wiener

Learning process and improvement of point-of-care ultrasound technique for subxiphoid visualization of the inferior vena cava

Medical residents' training in ultrasonography usually follows the recommendations of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), even though these do not provide specific technical guidelines. Adequa...

Authors: Mauricio Gómez Betancourt, José Moreno-Montoya, Ana-María Barragán González, Juan Carlos Ovalle and Yury Forlan Bustos Martínez

Social media to supplement point-of-care ultrasound courses: the “sandwich e-learning” approach. A randomized trial

Point-of-care ultrasound (POC-US) is gaining importance in almost all specialties. E-learning has been used to teach theoretical knowledge and pattern recognition. As social media are universally available, th...

Authors: Dorothea Hempel, Stephanie Haunhorst, Sivajini Sinnathurai, Armin Seibel, Florian Recker, Frank Heringer, Guido Michels and Raoul Breitkreutz

Ultrasound findings in critical care patients: the “liver sign” and other abnormal abdominal air patterns

In critical care patients, point of care abdominal ultrasound examination, although it has been practiced for over 30 years, is not as widespread as its cardiac or pulmonary counterparts. We report two cases i...

Authors: Joseph Dahine, Annie Giard, David-Olivier Chagnon and André Denault

Phantom model and scoring system to assess ability in ultrasound-guided chest drain positioning

Chest tube positioning is an invasive procedure associated with potentially serious injuries. In the last few years, we have been running a project directed at developing a practical simulator of a surgical pr...

Authors: Luigi Vetrugno, Giovanni Volpicelli, Federico Barbariol, Ilaria Toretti, Livia Pompei, Francesco Forfori and Giorgio Della Rocca

Real-time images of tidal recruitment using lung ultrasound

Ventilator-induced lung injury is a form of mechanical damage leading to a pulmonary inflammatory response related to the use of mechanical ventilation enhanced by the presence of atelectasis. One proposed mec...

Authors: Gerardo Tusman, Cecilia M. Acosta, Marco Nicola, Mariano Esperatti, Stephan H. Bohm and Fernando Suarez-Sipmann

The evolution of an integrated ultrasound curriculum (iUSC) for medical students: 9-year experience

Interest in ultrasound education in medical schools has increased dramatically in recent years as reflected in a marked increase in publications on the topic and growing attendance at international meetings on...

Authors: Richard A. Hoppmann, Victor V. Rao, Floyd Bell, Mary Beth Poston, Duncan B. Howe, Shaun Riffle, Stephen Harris, Ruth Riley, Carol McMahon, L. Britt Wilson, Erika Blanck, Nancy A. Richeson, Lynn K. Thomas, Celia Hartman, Francis H. Neuffer, Brian D. Keisler…

Inferior vena cava diameters and collapsibility index reveal early volume depletion in a blood donor model

Changes of volume status can be readily inferred from variations in diameter of the inferior vena cava (IVC) measured by ultrasound. However the effect of IVC changes following acute blood loss are not fully e...

Authors: Paolo Pasquero, Stefano Albani, Elena Sitia, Anna Viola Taulaigo, Lorenzo Borio, Paola Berchialla, Franco Castagno and Massimo Porta

A case of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy with reversible alternating diaphragmatic paralysis: case study

Respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation has been reported in patients with bilateral diaphragmatic paralysis due to CIDP. We report a case of CIDP that progressed to respiratory failure with norma...

Authors: Kavi Haji, Ernest Butler and Colin Royse

Accuracy of abdominal ultrasound for the diagnosis of pneumoperitoneum in patients with acute abdominal pain: a pilot study

Pneumoperitoneum is a rare cause of abdominal pain characterized by a high mortality. Ultrasonography (US) can detect free intraperitoneal air; however, its accuracy remains unclear. The aims of this pilot stu...

Authors: Peiman Nazerian, Camilla Tozzetti, Simone Vanni, Maurizio Bartolucci, Simona Gualtieri, Federica Trausi, Marco Vittorini, Elisabetta Catini, Gian Alfonso Cibinel and Stefano Grifoni

Point-of-care ultrasonography improves the diagnosis of splenomegaly in hospitalized patients

It is important to detect splenomegaly as it can have important diagnostic implications. Previous studies, however, have shown that the traditional physical examination is limited in its ability to rule in or ...

Authors: Andrew P. J. Olson, Bernard Trappey, Michael Wagner, Michael Newman, L. James Nixon and Daniel Schnobrich