Pocket Mobile Echocardiography: Balance Promise with Prudence

Compared with standard transthoracic echocardiography, a pocket device performed well on some measures, but its role in clinical practice is still evolving.


A pocket mobile echocardiography (PME) device is now commercially available. To assess the value of PME for rapid cardiac assessment, investigators at a single center compared quickly acquired PME images with images acquired by standard transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) in 97 patients. In all cases, PME images were obtained by the same ultrasonographer who performed TTE and interpreted by two experienced echocardiographers and two cardiology fellows. All interpreters were blinded to the indication for the examination and the TTE result.

All TTE images were adequate for evaluation of left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction, LV and diastolic dimensions, valve structure, and pericardial effusion; one image was inadequate for evaluation of wall-motion abnormality, and two studies did not include inferior vena cava (IVC) size. Contrast was required in 8.2% of the TTE studies.

Overall, between 75% and 95% of abnormal TTE results were visualized on the PME images. LV ejection fraction and end diastolic dimension were the variables most likely to be assessable by PME, whereas IVC was the least assessable variable. Interobserver agreement was consistently higher among experienced echocardiographers than among cardiology fellows.


Citation(s):

Liebo MJ et al. Is pocket mobile echocardiography the next-generation stethoscope? A cross-sectional comparison of rapidly acquired images with standard transthoracic echocardiography. Ann Intern Med 2011 Jul 5; 155:33.