Usefulness of a hand-hold ultrasound device for bedside examination of left ventricular function

Thirteen resident physicians underwent a 1-hour ultrasound training session on augmenting their physical examination for left ventricular systolic dysfunction by using a hand-held ultrasound device, and were subsequently tested on 12 patient models. Residents obtained technically adequate ultrasound studies in 82% of examinations and 10 of 13 residents were able to demonstrate improvement in the accuracy of their bedside examination for left ventricular systolic dysfunction.