Two studies published in the online Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine are questioning appropriate use of echocardiograms.
 
In Norway, researchers found that echocardiographic screening in the general public for structural and valvular heart disease was not associated with benefit for reducing the risk of death, heart attack or stroke.
 
The results support current guidelines that echo tests not be used for cardiovascular risk assessment in asymptomatic adults. Researchers hope the findings will “contribute to reducing the overuse of echocardiography.”
 
And at an academic medical center in Texas, a study of the use of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) found that less than 1 in 3 of the TTE results for 535 patients resulted in an active change of care.
 
While most of the TTEs were administered according to current appropriate use criteria (91.8%), researchers say the recent findings “highlight the need for a better method to optimize TTE utilization” in order more efficiently use health care resources.
 
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