Echocardiography in the Emergency Department

Echocardiography is a powerful diagnostic tool if the usual steps in medical reasoning are followed: history-taking and clinical examination. It provides answers to the classic questions frequently asked by practitioners working in these departments, such as the status of blood volume, ventricular function and filling pressures. All these questions, together with a systematic search for pericardial or pleural fluid effusions, require a rapid, clear response to guide the therapeutic management of these patients.