Simple Emergency Cardiac Sonography

Abstract

An introduction is necessary here because cardiac sonography has a symbolic place. The term “sonography” in the title was chosen on purpose: sounding different to “echo,” traditionally reserved for the echocardiography Doppler approach of the cardiologist, and different to “ultrasound,” which is associated with traditional abdominal examination by the radiologist. Cardiology and radiology are two worlds. Critical care is another world. We could have placed the heart first or last (another mark of respect). The heart is a vital ultrasound-accessible organ, like others, and its place can be considered here. Having accrued experience in a pioneering institution in echocardiography in the ICU since 1989 [1], the authors have come to the tentative conclusion that therapeutic procedures can be deduced from the observation of simple phenomena. The heart is a perfect example of the principle of simplicity used throughout this book. Simple signs, a simple technique, and a holistic approach define a field different from the traditional cultures. Prestigious comprehensive textbooks are available from the traditional cardiologist field [2], the pioneering intensive care field [1], many honorable sources [3,4], recent trends [5–7] and a host of sources we cannot cite, for which we humbly apologize for the lack of space and culture. We also apologize for those valuable references that are not featured in this chapter (many are featured in Chap. 23, however).