Handheld Echocardiography Measurements Concordance and Findings Agreement: An Exploratory Study
The professional association has already developed guidelines on the appropriate use of handheld ultrasound devices, especially in an emergency setting. Handheld ultrasound devices are seen as the ‘stethoscope of the future’ to assist in physical examination. Our exploratory study evaluated whether...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2023-02-01
|
| Series: | Diagnostics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4418/13/5/853 |
| _version_ | 1797615585388920832 |
|---|---|
| author | Mariam Haji-Hassan Bogdan Duțu Sorana D. Bolboacă |
| author_facet | Mariam Haji-Hassan Bogdan Duțu Sorana D. Bolboacă |
| author_sort | Mariam Haji-Hassan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The professional association has already developed guidelines on the appropriate use of handheld ultrasound devices, especially in an emergency setting. Handheld ultrasound devices are seen as the ‘stethoscope of the future’ to assist in physical examination. Our exploratory study evaluated whether the measurements of cardiovascular structures and the agreement in identifying aortic, mitral, and tricuspid valve pathology made by a resident with a handheld device (HH, Kosmos Torso-One) reach the results reported by an experienced examiner who used a high-end device (STD). Patients referred for cardiology examination in a single center from June to August 2022 were eligible for the study. Patients who agreed to participate underwent two heart ultrasound examinations scanned by the same two operators. A cardiology resident performed the first examination with a HH ultrasound device, and an experienced examiner performed the second examination with an STD device. Forty-three consecutive patients were eligible, and forty-two were included in the study. One obese patient was excluded because none of the examiners succeeded in performing the heart examination. The measurements obtained with HH were generally higher than those obtained with STD, with the highest mean difference of 0.4 mm, but without significant differences (all 95% confidence intervals of the differences contain the value of 0). For valvular disease, the lowest agreement was observed for mitral valve regurgitation (26/42, with a Kappa concordance coefficient of 0.5321), which was missed in almost half of the patients with mild regurgitation and underestimated in half of the patients with moderate mitral regurgitation. The measurements performed by the resident with the handheld Kosmos Torso-One device showed high concordance with those conducted by the experienced examiner with a larger high-end ultrasound device. The learning curve of the resident could explain the limited performance in identifying valvular pathologies between examiners. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T07:27:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6bea16edb3cf475a87f6cbb01a6cdaef |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-4418 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T07:27:38Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Diagnostics |
| spelling | doaj.art-6bea16edb3cf475a87f6cbb01a6cdaef2023-11-17T07:29:06ZengMDPI AGDiagnostics2075-44182023-02-0113585310.3390/diagnostics13050853Handheld Echocardiography Measurements Concordance and Findings Agreement: An Exploratory StudyMariam Haji-Hassan0Bogdan Duțu1Sorana D. Bolboacă2Department of Medical Informatics and Biostatistics, “Iuliu Hațieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj-Napoca, Louis Pasteur Str., No. 6, 400349 Cluj-Napoca, RomaniaCardiology Section, Clinical Rehabilitation Hospital, Viilor Str., No. 46-50, 400437 Cluj-Napoca, RomaniaDepartment of Medical Informatics and Biostatistics, “Iuliu Hațieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj-Napoca, Louis Pasteur Str., No. 6, 400349 Cluj-Napoca, RomaniaThe professional association has already developed guidelines on the appropriate use of handheld ultrasound devices, especially in an emergency setting. Handheld ultrasound devices are seen as the ‘stethoscope of the future’ to assist in physical examination. Our exploratory study evaluated whether the measurements of cardiovascular structures and the agreement in identifying aortic, mitral, and tricuspid valve pathology made by a resident with a handheld device (HH, Kosmos Torso-One) reach the results reported by an experienced examiner who used a high-end device (STD). Patients referred for cardiology examination in a single center from June to August 2022 were eligible for the study. Patients who agreed to participate underwent two heart ultrasound examinations scanned by the same two operators. A cardiology resident performed the first examination with a HH ultrasound device, and an experienced examiner performed the second examination with an STD device. Forty-three consecutive patients were eligible, and forty-two were included in the study. One obese patient was excluded because none of the examiners succeeded in performing the heart examination. The measurements obtained with HH were generally higher than those obtained with STD, with the highest mean difference of 0.4 mm, but without significant differences (all 95% confidence intervals of the differences contain the value of 0). For valvular disease, the lowest agreement was observed for mitral valve regurgitation (26/42, with a Kappa concordance coefficient of 0.5321), which was missed in almost half of the patients with mild regurgitation and underestimated in half of the patients with moderate mitral regurgitation. The measurements performed by the resident with the handheld Kosmos Torso-One device showed high concordance with those conducted by the experienced examiner with a larger high-end ultrasound device. The learning curve of the resident could explain the limited performance in identifying valvular pathologies between examiners.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4418/13/5/853handheld ultrasound (HH)heart imagingpoint-of-care ultrasoundechocardiography |
| spellingShingle | Mariam Haji-Hassan Bogdan Duțu Sorana D. Bolboacă Handheld Echocardiography Measurements Concordance and Findings Agreement: An Exploratory Study Diagnostics handheld ultrasound (HH) heart imaging point-of-care ultrasound echocardiography |
| title | Handheld Echocardiography Measurements Concordance and Findings Agreement: An Exploratory Study |
| title_full | Handheld Echocardiography Measurements Concordance and Findings Agreement: An Exploratory Study |
| title_fullStr | Handheld Echocardiography Measurements Concordance and Findings Agreement: An Exploratory Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Handheld Echocardiography Measurements Concordance and Findings Agreement: An Exploratory Study |
| title_short | Handheld Echocardiography Measurements Concordance and Findings Agreement: An Exploratory Study |
| title_sort | handheld echocardiography measurements concordance and findings agreement an exploratory study |
| topic | handheld ultrasound (HH) heart imaging point-of-care ultrasound echocardiography |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4418/13/5/853 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mariamhajihassan handheldechocardiographymeasurementsconcordanceandfindingsagreementanexploratorystudy AT bogdandutu handheldechocardiographymeasurementsconcordanceandfindingsagreementanexploratorystudy AT soranadbolboaca handheldechocardiographymeasurementsconcordanceandfindingsagreementanexploratorystudy |