Echocardiography for Cardiac Arrest

Point-of-care ultrasound can be a useful tool in cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Patients in cardiac arrest arrive in one of four cardiac rhythms: Ventricular fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia, asystole, or pulseless electrical activity. Point-of-care ultrasound can be used to assess for cardiac contractility during pulse checks in cardiac arrest. Reversible causes of cardiac arrest can be delineated by using bedside echocardiography during resuscitation. Utilization of bedside ultrasound can help determine pericardial effusion causing tamponade, right ventricular strain caused by pulmonary embolism, hypovolemia, and tension pneumothorax. Cardiac views can be obtained by two methods: transthoracic echocardiography or transesophageal echocardiography. When utilizing bedside ultrasound, it is important to obtain images during pulse checks in less than 10 s, as recommended by the 2105 American Heart Association Advanced Cardiac Life Support guidelines.