Handheld Echocardiography in Clinical Practice

Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) represents an established and fundamental tool for the evaluation of patients with known or suspected cardiovascular disease. Recently, manufacturers have developed handheld echocardiograms small enough to fit in the pocket of a physician's lab coat. Studies assessing these handheld devices have several limitations. While they have generally evaluated the handheld devices favorably, previous studies has not consistently studied handheld devices under the best possible clinical conditions and have not necessarily highlighted the devices' limitations.

In this proposal, we seek to analyze the applicability of handheld echocardiograms to standard clinical practice. The investigators plan to use trained sonographers to perform handheld examinations on patients referred for TTE without established cardiovascular disease. The handheld images will be interpreted by experienced, consultant-level echocardiographers. The investigators then plan to compare findings from the handheld echocardiogram to the patient's standard clinical TTE.