Focus-assessed transthoracic echocardiography: Implications in perioperative and intensive care

ABSTRACT

Transthoracic echocardiography is a potent and appealing diagnostic tool by virtue of rapidity, noninvasiveness, and repeatability. Focus-assessed transthoracic echocardiography (FATE) forms quick guidance to interpret the echocardiographic information and relates it to the clinical context. It can be applied in the perioperative period, intensive care units (ICUs), and emergency situations, in trauma and as resuscitation aids. FATE intents to assess cardiac function including contractility, chamber size and hypertrophy, valvular dysfunction, cardiac tamponade, and pericardial and pleural effusions. Thence, FATE has become a quintessential scanning tool perioperatively and in ICUs.