ABSTRACT
Dyspnea is a common complaint in patients who present to the emergency department and can be due to numerous etiologies. This case report details a 90-year-old female with a history significant for hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and new diagnosis of ovarian malignancy whose symptoms increased over the past three days. Point-of-care Ultrasonography showed multiple B-lines, a plethoric IVC without respiratory variation, a markedly low EF and a lack of RV dilation. There was also no evidence of effusion which led the emergency medicine team to the diagnosis of acute decompensated heart failure. This quick diagnosis was possible due to using the standardized POCUS approach guided by the BEE FIRST algorithm. BEE FIRST can help physicians remember: B-lines are indicative of interstitial thickening, Effusion such as pericardial or pleural should be checked for, Ejection Fraction is useful in assessing for heart failure, IVC/Infection/Infarct correlates with central venous pressure, and can be used to assess volume status, check for enlargement, evidence of pneumonia, subpleural consolidation "shred sign", hepatization of lung, and/or pulmonary infarction related to pulmonary embolism, Right Heart Strain can indicate pulmonary embolism or pulmonary hypertension, Sliding Lung can assess for pneumothorax and pleural characteristics, and lastly, Thrombosis/Tumor can assess for myxoma and interrogation of lower extremities for deep vein thrombosis can aid in dyspnea differentiation. In this report, we demonstrate how the framework BEE FIRST offers a standardized stepwise approach to the utilization of POCUS in a patient with acute dyspnea in the ED setting.
