Focus‐assessed transthoracic echocardiography in the sitting position: two life‐saving cases

Focus‐Assessed Transthoracic Echocardiography (FATE) is a point‐of‐care ultrasound protocol allowing the fast evaluation of the cardio‐pulmonary status. It has been well established that patients with an exacerbation of chronic obstructive lung disease and lung oedema benefit from the sitting positi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Acta anaesthesiologica Scandinavica 2011-01, Vol.55 (1), p.126-129
Main Authors: FREDERIKSEN, C. A., KNUDSEN, L., JUHL‐OLSEN, P., SLOTH, E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged, 80 and over
Anesthesia
Anesthesia. Intensive care medicine. Transfusions. Cell therapy and gene therapy
Biological and medical sciences
Echocardiography - methods
Female
Fracture Fixation, Internal
Fractures, Bone - surgery
Heart Arrest - diagnostic imaging
Heart Arrest - therapy
Humans
Hypertension - complications
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Pneumonia - complications
Point-of-Care Systems
Posture - physiology
Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - complications
Stroke Volume - physiology
Ventricular Function, Left - physiology
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Summary:Focus‐Assessed Transthoracic Echocardiography (FATE) is a point‐of‐care ultrasound protocol allowing the fast evaluation of the cardio‐pulmonary status. It has been well established that patients with an exacerbation of chronic obstructive lung disease and lung oedema benefit from the sitting position. These and other medical emergency situations may prevent patients from attaining the supine position, thus precluding standard echocardiography. Portable ultrasound machines with a wide range of different probes are now available at limited costs. This allows the physician to bring point‐of‐care ultrasound to the patient in almost any location. We present two cases of severely ill patients where FATE was performed in the sitting position with decisive impact on subsequent therapy.
ISSN:0001-5172
1399-6576
DOI:10.1111/j.1399-6576.2010.02330.x