Training Program for Cardiology Residents to Perform Focused Cardiac Ultrasound Examination with Portable Device

Training requirements for general cardiologists without echocardiographic expertise to perform focused cardiac ultrasound ( FCU ) with portable devices have not yet been defined. The objective of this study was to evaluate a training program to instruct cardiology residents to perform FCU with a hand‐carried device ( HCD ) in different clinical settings. Methods Twelve cardiology residents were subjected to a 50‐question test, 4 lectures on basic echocardiography and imaging interpretation, the supervised interpretation of 50 echocardiograms and performance of 30 exams using HCD . After this period, they repeated the written test and were administered a practical test comprising 30 exams each (360 patients) in different clinical settings. They reported on 15 parameters and a final diagnosis; their findings were compared to the HCD exam of a specialist in echocardiography. Results The proportion of correct answers on the theoretical test was higher after training (86%) than before (51%; P = 0.001). The agreement was substantial among the 15 parameters analyzed (kappa ranging from 0.615 to 0.891; P < 0.001). The percentage of correct interpretation was lower for abnormal (75%) than normal (95%) items, for valve abnormalities (85%) compared to other items (92%) and for graded scale (87%) than for dichotomous (95%) items (P < 0.0001, for all). For the final diagnoses, the kappa value was higher than 0.941 (P < 0.001; 95% CI [0.914, 0.955]). Conclusion The training proposed enabled residents to perform FCU with HCD , and their findings were in good agreement with those of a cardiologist specialized in echocardiography.