Echocardiography and the critically ill patient

SummaryEchocardiography provides valuable diagnostic information in the assessment and management of the critically ill patient on the intensive care unit (ICU). Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE), through the advent of portable hand-held echocardiography devices can provide the cardiologist, the intensivist or the sonographer with a rapid non-invasive and safe assessment of the cardiovascular status of the patient on ICU. Recent advances in technology such as harmonic imaging, digital image acquisition and contrast echocardiography have made for improvements in image quality. This has extended the use of bedside echocardiography from not only assessing the cardiac status, but also to diagnose or exclude complications of procedures and therapies commonly used in ICU. However, in common with other investigations, the information obtained from bedside echocardiography should be interpreted in the context of other relevant investigations and clinical findings. As more and more critical care physicians are getting trained in performing bedside echocardiography, they should be aware of different techniques that can be used while performing the study. Here, we review the application of echocardiography in various clinical diagnoses encountered in ICU and the interpretation of findings in echocardiography.