VALIDATION OF THE SMALLEST POCKET ECHOSCOPIC DEVICE'S DIAGNOSTIC CAPABILITIES IN HEART INVESTIGATION

We hypothesized that, based on greyscale imaging and color Doppler capabilities, a new pocket ultrasound device (PUD) could accurately record cardiologic diagnostic findings. One hundred patients referred for conventional clinical indications underwent a standard echocardiography. Subsequently, a second physician blinded to the results performed an evaluation using the PUD on the same patients. Study end-points were echocardiographic window quality; left ventricular (LV) morphology; function; hypertrophy; right ventricular, atrial and vena caval morphologies; aortic and mitral valvulopathies; and pericardial structure. Using a scale of three grades, concordance in image quality proved good with a kappa coefficient (kappa) of 0.71. Concordances between systems were excellent for LV function and morphology (kappa = 0.91 and 0.96). Concordance for LV hypertrophy was good (kappa = 0.74). Concordances for mitral regurgitation grades were 0.90, 0.95 and 1.00, respectively. In conclusion, a new PUD enabled scanning examinations, which showed good concordance of basic and qualitative diagnostic capability to standard echocardiographic instruments. (E-mail: patricia.reant@chu-bordeaux.fr) (C) 2011 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology.