• Thomas Lafon, Alexandra Appert, Mathilde Hadj, Vincent Bigrat, Vincent Legarcon, Paul Claveries, Marine Goudelin, Bruno Evrard, PadillaAna Catalina HernandezACHInserm CIC 1435, Limoges University Hospital Centre, Limoges, France., Arthur Baisse, and Philippe Vignon.
• Inserm CIC 1435, Limoges University Hospital Centre, Limoges, France.
• Shock. 2020 Jun 1; 53 (6): 695-700.

Study ObjectiveWe evaluated the early hemodynamic profile of patients presenting with acute circulatory failure to the Emergency Department (ED) using focused echocardiography performed by emergency physicians after a dedicated training program.MethodsPatients presenting to the ED with an acute circulatory failure of any origin were successively examined by a recently trained emergency physician and by an expert in critical care echocardiography. Operators independently performed and interpreted online echocardiographic examinations to determine the leading mechanism of acute circulatory failure.ResultsFocused echocardiography could be performed in 100 of 114 screened patients (55 with sepsis/septic shock and 45 with shock of other origin) after a median fluid loading of 500 mL (interquartile range: 187-1,500 mL). A hypovolemic profile was predominantly observed whether the acute circulatory failure was of septic origin or not (33/55 [60%] vs. 23/45 [51%]: P = 0.37). Although a vasoplegic profile associated with a hyperkinetic left ventricle was most frequently identified in septic patients when compared with their counterparts (17/55 [31%] vs. 5/45 [11%]: P = 0.02), early left or right ventricular failure was observed in 31% of them. Hemodynamic profiles were adequately appraised by recently trained emergency physicians, as reflected by a good-to-excellent agreement with the expert's assessment (Κ: 0.61-0.85).ConclusionsHypovolemia was predominantly identified in patients presenting to the ED with acute circulatory failure. Although vasoplegia was more frequently associated with sepsis, early ventricular dysfunction was also depicted in septic patients. Focused echocardiography seemed reliable when performed by recently trained emergency physicians without previous experience in ultrasound.

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