Technically Adequate Images for Preparticipation Screening Echocardiography Can Be Obtained by Novices After a Single Day of Training

Abstract

Objectives Echocardiography‐naïve physicians were trained in a 1‐day course to determine whether they could obtain images adequate for preparticipation screening in athletes. Methods Twenty‐six physicians with no previous experience in echocardiography were trained to perform preparticipation screening echocardiography during a 6‐hour course. Each image was rated for its technical quality on a diagnostic adequacy score. The time taken to perform the images was also evaluated. Results The images obtained a median score of 3 (interquartile range, 2–4), which was considered adequate for preparticipation screening. Video clips achieved a higher rating than the still images, with a median score of 4 (interquartile range, 3–4). The best‐performing 50% of the participants obtained adequate images for screening 95% of the time after the initial training. Considering the group overall, 79.2% of all video clips were adequate. The median time to perform the scans was 39 seconds. The correlation between the time and adequacy score showed that the quickest novices were also able to obtain the best images. Conclusions It is feasible to use novice sonographers to perform preparticipation screening echocardiography provided that the skill of the candidates is assessed after training, and competent individuals are selected. Video images should be used rather than still images.