Appropriateness and diagnostic yield of inpatient pediatric echocardiograms
Sean M. Lang1,2,3, Elijah Bolin1,2,3, Joshua A. Daily1,2,3, Xinyu Tang1,2,3, R. Thomas Collins II1,2,3
Structural and Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.12, No.2, pp. 210-217, 2017, DOI:10.1111/chd.12428
Abstract Objective: Multiple reports have shown echocardiograms for certain indications are neither costeffective nor of high diagnostic yield. Given the ease with which tests can be obtained at a tertiary
academic children’s hospital, our aims were to: (1) determine the diagnostic yield of inpatient studies by in-hospital location; (2) evaluate inpatient echocardiograms to determine indications and
level of appropriateness; and (3) evaluate the frequency of cardiology involvement prior to those
echocardiograms.
Design: All initial inpatient echocardiograms interpreted at our institution from February 2009 to
December 2014 were reviewed retrospectively. Patient location was grouped as pediatric intensive care (PICU),… More >