Heart failure & cardiomyopathies
Home-Operated Ultrasound Exam for Detection of Worsening Heart Failure (HOUSE-HF)
Authors' conclusion
This pilot study demonstrates that patients with hospitalized ADHF can be taught to use a handheld portable ultrasound device and obtain and upload high quality lung ultrasound images. Compliance with the study protocol and ability to obtain some images were excellent. Further studies are needed to determine if patient-performed lung ultrasound can help detect and manage acute worsening HF in this patient population.
Study context
- Population
- Patients recently hospitalized for acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) with chronic left-sided heart failure regardless of ejection fraction, enrolled from an urban academic tertiary care centrepatients enrolled
- Participants
- 15 participants
- Outcome
- Study completion
- Follow-up
- 3 weeks
Methodological detailspilot study
- Pilot study
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Patients completing seven or more studies
15
Patients completing all 9 studies
10
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Images obtained
- Images obtained of 792 potential images
- 788 (99.5%)
Interpretable scans
- Interpretable scans of the 788 obtained
- 637 (80.8%)
- Zone 1R (right upper apical) adequate for interpretation
- 96.2%
- Zone 3L (left lower mid-axillary) interpretable
- 69.5%
B-lines per six-image scan
- Average number of B-lines
- three (with a range of 0-13)
Patient survey
- Zone 3L identified as the most challenging to obtain
- Overall high satisfaction with the study educational materials
Baseline characteristics
- Median patient age
- 63 years (range: 28 −86 years)
- Male
- 73%
- White
- 60%
- Average body mass index
- 33 kg/m²
- Ejection fraction >50%
- 33.3%
- Average hospital length of stay
- 6.3 days
Original publication
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it