Background: Although point-of-care ultrasound can improve patient care and reduce unnecessary downstream costs, few economic models exist on hospitalist use and whether remuneration for imaging could offset equipment costs.  As the heart and lungs are commonly examined during admission, we observed the frequency of use and projected fiscal outcomes of point-of-care cardiac ultrasound by an [...]

Background: Although point-of-care ultrasound can improve patient care and reduce unnecessary downstream costs, few economic models exist on hospitalist use and whether remuneration for imaging could offset equipment costs.  As the heart and lungs are commonly examined during admission, we observed the frequency of use and projected fiscal outcomes of point-of-care cardiac ultrasound by an [...]

Background:  Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) is one of the most popular tests in healthcare. Studies of Medicare beneficiaries for example have shown that each year approximately 20% undergo at least one TTE. Repeat TTE defined as TTE done within one year of a prior TTE represent 24-42% of all studies. In the present study we derive [...]

Background: Echocardiography is an essential evaluation in the diagnosis of infectious endocarditis (IE). Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) is a portable study that is widely available and non-invasive. Though transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is traditionally known for higher sensitivity and specificity, it is speculated that improvements in modern TTE imaging could produce higher diagnostic yield than previously thought. [...]

Background: Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) is a clinical tool for cardiac evaluation of hospitalized patients but is frequently associated with a greater hospital length of stay.1 At our institution, delays in TTE completion have been attributed to a shortage of sonographers and overutilization by inpatient teams for certain clinical conditions. From January to October 2023, only [...]

Case Presentation: A 55-year-old female presented with headaches and intermittent fevers. On initial examination, she had left hand weakness. Laboratory findings revealed leukocytosis; brain MRI demonstrated multiple bilateral cerebral infarcts. Initial workup was concerning for embolic stroke which initiated our search for a cardioembolic source. No significant abnormalities were seen on transthoracic echo (TTE) and [...]

Case Presentation: A 36 years old female with past medical history of IV drug abuse, presented with dyspnea, nasal congestion, tactile disturbances, diarrhea, body aches and generalized weakness for 1 day. She was recently treated for tricuspid valve endocarditis. A Transthoracic Echocardiogram (TTE) obtained at that time showed ejection fraction (EF) of 55-60%. On presentation, [...]

Case Presentation: A 62-year-old white male, without significant past medical history or risk factors, was referred to our clinic for arrhythmia evaluation. The patient had several brief episodes of palpitations for the last two months. On physical examination blowing systolic murmur at the apex and irregularly irregular rhythm were noticed. The 12-lead ECG demonstrated atrial [...]

Case Presentation: The patient is a 64-year-old male, BMI 35.6 kg/m2, with a history of diabetes mellitus II, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and recent CAD after syncope, who was under going CABG. A cardiac tumor was incidentally found intraoperatively (Figure 1). The pre-operative transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) was negative for signs of tumor (Figure 2), however, when it [...]

Case Presentation: Our patient is 78-year-old female with a history of mitral regurgitation, left ventricular outflow tract obstruction (LVOT) with systolic anterior motion (SAM) of mitral valve, migraines, and hypertension presented with lightheadedness. She had increased blood pressure at her recent office visit few weeks back necessitating an increase in dosage of verapamil. At presentation, [...]