AN AUDIT OF EMERGENCY ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY IN A DISTRICT GENERAL-HOSPITAL

Eighty patients (43 M, 37 F), aged 23-89 years who were referred for e mergency echocardiography over a 12-month period were prospectively st udied in order to determine the reasons for emergency echocardiography and the influence of its results on patient management. The most freq uent emergency request was to clarify whether the basis for cardiomega ly in a haemodynamically unstable patient was pericardial effusion or left ventricular dilatation. Other reasons for requests were for asses sment for source of systemic emboli, acute complications of myocardial infarction, endocarditis, valve dysfunction and cardiac trauma. As a consequence of the emergency echocardiography, management was immediat ely influenced in 19 patients. This study has provided information on the specific settings in which emergency echocardiography can be justi fied.