Objective .– The median length of hospitalization for heart failure (HF) in France is 13 days and admissions are the main cost of this common and severe disease. The development of ultra-portable ultrasound equipment (POCKET) enables early assessment of cardiac function at the bedside. We evaluated the use of this new tool and its impact on the length of hospital stay in patients with HF.

Patients and methods .– All consecutive patients admitted for HF in the cardiology department of the Rouen university hospital between July and August 2012 were enrolled in the study and randomized into two groups (control and POCKET). They all had baseline cardiac function assessment in the days following their admission using standard echocardiography. The POCKET group had early echocardiogram performed using the ultra-portable device at bedside within 48 hours after admission. We evaluated the length of hospitalization in both groups as well as reliability of ultrasonography using the ultra-portable device as compared to usual echocardiography.

Results .– Sixty-two patients were enrolled in our study, 32 patients in the POCKET group and 30 in the control group. There was a trend toward length of hospitalization reduction in the POCKET group compared to the control group (6.8 ± 5.2 days vs. 8.4 ± 5.4 days, P = 0.09). However, we have demonstrated the feasibility and reliability of the use of ultra-portable echocardiograph by two operators, a junior and a senior, as compared to a reference standard echocardiogram (ER), over a high-end device, carried out by a trained operator. Correlations between left ventricular ejection fractions estimated (junior/senior: r ² = 0.76; junior/ER: r ² = 0.75, senior/ER: r ² = 0.79) as well as concordance of other echocardiographic parameters were satisfactory.

Conclusions .– Ultra-portable ultrasound allows early and reliable evaluation of cardiac function by a junior MD in patients hospitalized for heart failure, and its use tends to reduce the length of hospitalization.