Hand-carried ultrasound devices in pediatric cardiology: clinical experience with three different devices in 110 patients.

BACKGROUND: The aims of this study were to determine the usefulness of hand-carried ultrasound devices in pediatric cardiology and to compare the performance of three different hand-carried ultrasound devices in a pediatric cardiology outpatient clinic and intensive care unit.

METHODS: One hundred ten patients (49 male; mean age, 6.4 ± 5.2 years; range 0.1-38 years) with congenital heart defects or innocent heart murmurs were examined using Siemens Acuson P10, Siemens Acuson P50, and Philips CX 50 systems. The quality of images and the accuracy of B-mode measurements were compared with those obtained using a standard echocardiographic system (Philips iE33).

RESULTS: Fifty-nine patients were examined with the Siemens Acuson P10, 29 with the Siemens Acuson P50, and 22 with the Philips CX 50 system. There were no significant differences in B-mode measurements. The Acuson P10 system, however, showed significantly lower image quality, with 64.54% of all studies considered of excellent quality compared with 92.83% with the Acuson P50 and 95.52% with the CX 50 (P < .05) and a mean quality score (1 = fair, 5 = excellent) of 3.5 versus 4.57 with the Acuson P50 and 4.86 with the CX 50 (P < .05). This was attributed to the limited capacity for accurate diagnosis in children with body weights < 10 kg and complex heart defects.

CONCLUSION: Hand-carried ultrasound devices represent a valuable alternative to standard echocardiographic systems in pediatric cardiology. In particular, systems including all echocardiographic modalities offer unlimited versatility in outpatient and intensive care.