Screening for left ventricular dysfunction using a hand-carried cardiac ultrasound device

Background: The hand‐carried cardiac ultrasound (HCU) device is a recently introduced imaging device, which may be potentially useful in the primary care setting. Aim: To test the screening potential of a HCU for the detection of left ventricular (LV) dysfunction by evaluating LV ejection fraction (LVEF) and inferior vena cava (IVC) collapse. Standard echocardiographic system (SE) and plasma brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) measurements were used as a reference. Methods: Eighty‐eight consecutive patients (56 male, aged 59±12 years) with suspected LV dysfunction were enrolled in the study. The HCU‐LVEF was visually estimated and the SE‐LVEF was derived by the Simpson's biplane method. A LVEF