OBJECTIVES We designed and implemented a focused transthoracic echocardiography curriculum for critical care medicine fellows participating in 1- and 2-year training programs. We quantitatively evaluated their proficiency in focused transthoracic echocardiography. DESIGN Prospective study evaluating curriculum implementation and objective assessment of focused transthoracic echocardiography p...

The diagnostic value of a combination of transoesophageal and transthoracic echocardiography was evaluated in 21 patients with dissection of the aorta. The results were compared with those of computed tomography, aortography, and with findings at operation or necropsy or both. Transthoracic echocardiography identified three of the four patients with type I dissection, two of the five patients w...

Contrast echocardiography with harmonic imaging and contrast injection has improved the accuracy and reproducibility compared to imaging without contrast. Therefore, while evaluation of capillary free communications between pulmonary and systemic circulation is deemed important, assessment after contrast injection should be the preferred approach. We report a case of 60 years old male with alco...

The current report describes a case of a primary cardiac lymphoma. For early and appropriate treatment of a cardiac mass it is not only important to determine its localization and extension but also to differentiate between malignant and benign lesions. This report demonstrates that not only transthoracic echocardiography but also the other different forms of echocardiography such as transesoph...

OBJECTIVE To compare the value of current transthoracic echocardiographic systems and transoesophageal echocardiography for assessing left atrial appendage function and imaging thrombi. DESIGN Single blind prospective study. Patients were first investigated by transthoracic echocardiography and thereafter by a second investigator using transoesophageal echocardiography. The feasibility of ima...

We performed transesophageal echocardiography in 50 consecutive hospitalized patients with recent transient ischemic attack or stroke of embolic origin to determine whether transesophageal echocardiography is more sensitive than transthoracic echocardiography in detection of possible intracardiac sources of embolism. Twenty-six of 50 patients with a negative transthoracic echocardiogram for pot...