BMJ 1995;311:325 (29 July)

Letters

Open access echocardiography

General practitioners use echocardiography appropriately

EDITOR,--C M Francis and colleagues report their experience with open access echocardiography in the management of heart failure in Edinburgh.1 General practitioners were sent a summary of the findings on scanning together with recommendations concerning changes to treatment, although the authors present no information to show that such changes were implemented.

A pilot open access service is available to general practitioners in Darlington, and over 200 patients have been referred. Before the study began each practice was visited so that the service could be explained, and written guidelines were provided later. Unlike in the Edinburgh study, our reports are purely descriptive; no guidance on management is provided.

Of the first 200 patients referred, 141 were taking a loop diuretic, 117 had a history of ischaemic heart disease, and 59 had a history of hypertension. The left ventricular ejection fraction was below 40% in 41, and . . . [Full text of this article]


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Relevant Article

Open access echocardiography in management of heart failure in the community
C M Francis, L Caruana, P Kearney, M Love, G R Sutherland, I R Starkey, T R D Shaw, and J J V McMurray
BMJ 1995 310: 634-636. [Abstract] [Full Text]

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