ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of cardiac anatomy and pathology that can be seen using point-of-care ultrasound assessment of the heart. Colour Doppler is a useful additional tool to visually appreciate pathological blood flow within and around the cardiac structures and is applied in point-of-care echocardiography as a qualitative tool which points to the need for further assessment. Due to the crossover in imaging characteristics, it is important to consider cardiac tumours in the differential for thrombus. Point-of-care echocardiography offers a readily available, portable and highly versatile assessment of a wide variety of cardiac pathologies. Tricuspid valve assessment is central to estimation of pulmonary arterial pressures in conventional echocardiography. Measuring right ventricular function can be complex, but in the context of point-of-care echocardiography it is often done simply by a visual assessment of ejection fraction. Visual assessment of the left atrium and left-sided valves may also be made, with regurgitation often visible with colour Doppler.
