Focused critical care echocardiography: training for pediatricians and pediatric intensivists in an intensive care unit

Abstract Introduction: Focused critical care echocardiography (FCCE) has become a necessary competency for physicians working in pediatric intensive care units. Objective: To asses a theoretical and practical training program designed to explore skills acquisition for obtaining views and some echocardiographic measurements suggested for FCCE. Materials and methods: A 26-hour long theoretical and practical training for pediatricians and pediatric intensivists under the guidance of a pediatric cardiologist. The program included qualitative analysis of the variables pertaining to basic echocardiographic windows, and quantitative analysis of FCCE. Results: There were significant differences between having prior echocardiography knowledge, associated with a higher score in the 4-chamber apical window (mean: 9.0; standard deviation [SD]: 1.02; P = 0.021), and better correlation with the pediatric cardiologist regarding left ventricular function measurements (mean: 92.02; SD: 6.3; P = 0.036). Conclusion: The program was useful for basic level training in FCCE with an optimal level of acquisition of the main echocardiographic windows and some echocardiographic measurements.