An assessment of the clinical utility of echocardiography criteria in a Tertiary Health Center

BACKGROUND: The rising prevalence of cardiovascular diseases in the population has increased the demand for cardiovascular imaging procedures (specifically echocardiography) in our center. AIM: To determine the percentage of appropriate indications for echocardiography. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a prospective study conducted over a period of 1 year in the Department of Medicine of a Tertiary Health Care Center. The clinical diagnoses by the referring clinician and the indications (specific reasons for the study) for the echocardiography were consecutively recorded. The age and gender of the patients were also recorded. The indications were given a score of one to nine according to the revised appropriate use criteria of the American College of Cardiology Foundation and the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE). These indications were then classified into appropriate, inappropriate or uncertain based on the score. (1-3)-inappropriate use, (4-6) were derived. RESULTS: There were 25 indications, 16 (64%) were appropriate, 6 (24%) were inappropriate and three (12%) were rated as uncertain. CONCLUSION: Sixty-four percent of the indications for echocardiography are appropriate for the procedure. This implies that the criteria for echocardiography are yet to be fully implemented resulting in overutilization of the procedure.