So you're feeling comfortable with assessing LV function, RV function, the pericardium, the IVC and some basic valve stuff. What next? What should you focus on to take your critical care echo game to the next level? For some inspiration, check out this handbook that Dr. Mark Tutschka (PGY5 - Critical Care) has put together. It is a nice, succinct guide to some of the advanced applications [...]
The transesophageal approach echocardiography has numerous advantages for those providing resuscitation to the critically ill, including those with cardiac arrest. While the transthoracic approach is often quite useful, quality images in ventilated patients are more challenging. Thus, the reliable, high quality image acquisition of TEE is very attractive for the resus room. It is, however, the continuous nature of TEE - due to the probe [...]
In follow up to the tutorial on lung ultrasound image acquisition, this tutorial reviews the essential "signatures" of lung and pleural ultrasound that guide image interpretation. Go ahead - take 20 minutes and unlock the power of lung ultrasound through this review of the 5 essential findings: 1. Lung sliding (along with lung pulse, lung point) 2. A lines 3. B lines 4. Consolidation 5. [...]
One of the distinct advantages of point of care ultrasound is the ease of repeatability. This, along with the value of $1000 in tPA in reducing somebody's intermediate term likelihood of developing thromboembolic disease associated pulmonary hypertension, is well captured here. [wpvideo N1nSWgHK] This patient had a submassive PE - right heart strain in the absence of shock. Literature would suggest the benefit of [...]
On August 24, Dr. Rob Arntfield kicked-off the inaugural Western Medical Student Ultrasound Symposium with this thought-provoking keynote address introducing participants to point of care ultrasound. The talk begins with a compelling case presentation and ultimately delivers an interesting and slightly iconoclastic overview of the current state of affairs with point of care ultrasound, its relevance to medical training and how on earth we got here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvQCDep3iEg
Twelve months ago, point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) was an ill-defined concept for the majority of medical students at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. It was a chance exposure to bedside ultrasound that inspired a group of students to team up with local champions to formally launch a POCUS interest group in September 2012. The success of the interest group, which recruited 109 medical students [...]
The 2013 Critical Care Ultrasound course was a tremendous success. This 2 day course that took place over Aug 22-23 at CSTAR at University Hospital was regarded as the most successful course to date. The sold out course lead 36 participants through lung and pleural ultrasound, vascular access and a full day of critical care echocardiography. The course benefited from a deep roster of extremely [...]
Excitement surrounding the Western Medical Student Ultrasound Symposium is growing, with less than two weeks before the scanning begins. Below are some quick facts on the national event, which is the first of its kind accessible to Canadian medical students across the country: To take place August 24 and August 25 at the state of the art Canadian Surgical Technologies and Advanced Robotics facility at [...]
For lung and pleural ultrasound the abundance of acoustic windows can be overwhelming. Our approach here at Western (based on the literature, including the Blue Protocol) is a 4 point assessment of each hemithorax. For more see this new tutorial created by Rob Arntfield.
Registration for the 2013 Critical Care Ultrasound Course is now open! This year's course is the 4th annual offering from the Division of Critical Care Medicine at Western University. With a multitude of excellent faculty and enthusiasm for CCUS higher than ever, this year's course promises to be the best yet. The course will run Aug 22-23 at London Health Science's top rate CSTAR facility. [...]
