Feasibility and diagnostic accuracy of point-of-care handheld echocardiography in acute ischemic stroke patients - a pilot study

Please always quote using this URN: urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-158081
  • Background: Standard echocardiography (SE) is an essential part of the routine diagnostic work-up after ischemic stroke (IS) and also serves for research purposes. However, access to SE is often limited. We aimed to assess feasibility and accuracy of point-of-care (POC) echocardiography in a stroke unit (SU) setting. Methods: IS patients were recruited on the SU of the University Hospital Würzburg, Germany. Two SU team members were trained in POC echocardiography for a three-month period to assess a set of predefined cardiac parametersBackground: Standard echocardiography (SE) is an essential part of the routine diagnostic work-up after ischemic stroke (IS) and also serves for research purposes. However, access to SE is often limited. We aimed to assess feasibility and accuracy of point-of-care (POC) echocardiography in a stroke unit (SU) setting. Methods: IS patients were recruited on the SU of the University Hospital Würzburg, Germany. Two SU team members were trained in POC echocardiography for a three-month period to assess a set of predefined cardiac parameters including left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Diagnostic agreement was assessed by comparing POC with SE executed by an expert sonographer, and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) or kappa (κ) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated. Results: In the 78 patients receiving both POC and SE agreement for cardiac parameters was good, with ICC varying from 0.82 (95% CI 0.71–0.89) to 0.93 (95% CI 0.87–0.96), and κ from 0.39 (−95% CI 0.14–0.92) to 0.79 (95% CI 0.67–0.91). Detection of systolic dysfunction with POC echocardiography compared to SE was very good, with an area under the curve of 0.99 (0.96–1.00). Interrater agreement for LVEF measured by POC echocardiography was good with κ 0.63 (95% CI 0.40–0.85). Conclusions: POC echocardiography in a SU setting is feasible enabling reliable quantification of LVEF and preliminary assessment of selected cardiac parameters that might be used for research purposes. Its potential clinical utility in triaging stroke patients who should undergo or do not necessarily require SE needs to be investigated in larger prospective diagnostic studies.show moreshow less

Download full text files

Export metadata

Additional Services

Share in Twitter Search Google Scholar Statistics
Metadaten
Author: Peter Kraft, Anna Fleischer, Silke Wiedmann, Viktoria Rücker, Daniel Mackenrodt, Caroline Morbach, Uwe Malzahn, Christoph Kleinschnitz, Stefan Störk, Peter U. Heuschmann
URN:urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-158081
Document Type:Journal article
Faculties:Medizinische Fakultät / Neurologische Klinik und Poliklinik
Medizinische Fakultät / Abteilung für Molekulare Innere Medizin (in der Medizinischen Klinik und Poliklinik II)
Medizinische Fakultät / Institut für Klinische Epidemiologie und Biometrie
Language:English
Parent Title (English):BMC Neurology
Year of Completion:2017
Volume:17
Issue:159
Source:BMC Neurology (2017) 17:159. DOI: 10.1186/s12883-017-0937-8
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12883-017-0937-8
Dewey Decimal Classification:6 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 61 Medizin und Gesundheit / 616 Krankheiten
Tag:accuracy; ejection fraction; feasibility; ischemic stroke; point-of-care echocardiography; stroke unit; systolic dysfunction
Release Date:2018/03/21
Collections:Open-Access-Publikationsfonds / Förderzeitraum 2017
Licence (German):License LogoCC BY: Creative-Commons-Lizenz: Namensnennung 4.0 International