Cardiac Ultrasound

What you will learn

Is there a pericardial effusion?  How is the left ventricular function?  Can you estimate your patient’s volume status in the setting of undifferentiated hypotension?  There are few studies with more direct impact on clinical care than cardiac ultrasound.  In this chapter, we evaluate the pediatric heart from a variety of “windows” and “views”.  With clinical indications ranging from chest pain to shortness of breath, hypotension to cardiomegaly, the point-of-care cardiac ultrasound is an essential tool at the bedside.  With particular emphasis on heart function and the evaluation for pericardial fluid, this module is a beginner’s look at the role of cardiac ultrasound in a pediatric population.

• Know your rules of orientation
• Cardiac windows and views
• What information is provided from which view
• Sonographic findings of tamponade
• What systolic dysfunction looks like on ultrasound
• Right heart strain – what it looks like and what it means
• The hyperdynamic heart