Cardiac Ultrasound in Patients with Chest Pain

Abstract Chest pain is a frequent presenting complaint with a broad differential diagnosis. Emergency physicians routinely train in point-of-care cardiac ultrasound, which has the ability to rapidly and noninvasively assist in the diagnosis of many life-threatening causes of chest pain including acute coronary syndrome, cardiac tamponade, pulmonary embolism, and aortic dissection. In addition, the physician may quickly utilize other bedside ultrasound modalities, such as lung and musculoskeletal ultrasound, to diagnose pneumothorax, pneumonia, rib or sternal fractures, or soft tissue abnormalities. The article reviews the current literature and discusses the utility and performance of ultrasound in patients presenting with chest pain to the emergency department.
Source: Current Emergency and Hospital Medicine Reports - Category: Emergency Medicine Source Type: research