Impact of Hand-Held Cardiac Ultrasound in General Practice Version 3.1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Can the appropriate use of the V-scan in primary practice safely increase diagnostic accuracy and reduce the workload of the echocardiography department as well as the waiting times to the referral centre?
IRAS ID
215841
Contact name
Adrian Ionescu
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Research and Development, ABMU Health Board
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 8 months, 1 days
Research summary
The recent availability of a small and relatively cheap hand-held ultrasound scanner (VScan) presents an opportunity to provide heart scans in primary care. This might reduce the burden on hospital services and offer more timely testing in an environment which is closer to home for the patient. However, the efficacy and impact of such a service model has yet to be established. This research study will examine whether performing VScans in primary care can 1) reduce the number of inappropriate referrals for heart scans to the cardiology department of the local hospital; 2) reduce the time between the initial consultation and the cardiology referral for patients who need to be seen by a specialist; 3) increase the diagnostic accuracy of the physical examination by the GP. The study has 2 phases. The first phase involves a comparison between VScan performed by an echocardiographer in the GP surgery and a standard hospital scan. We will compare the results of the two scans to establish the accuracy of the VScan in detecting cardiac abnormalities. Any individual in the Swansea Bay GP Network with cardiac symptoms who is referred for a heart scan in the hospital will be invited to participate in the study. The second phase involves the use of the VScan as an adjunct to physical examination of patients by GPs (following a short training programme) before a focused scan is performed by a sonographer. We will assess whether the addition of the VScan to the physical examination is feasible, impacts the management plan and whether the GPs are able to accurately identify significant abnormalities. We aim to recruit 200 patients (100 per phase) over 24 months. The cost of performing Vscans in primary care and the short GP training programme is funded by a research grant from GE Healthcare.
REC name
London - Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/LO/0276
Date of REC Opinion
21 Apr 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion