Use of aortic point-of-care ultrasound in conventional and emergent echocardiography

Aortic aneurysms expand asymptomatically and rupture lethally. Acute aortic dissection is also a highly lethal cardiovascular emergency and requires prompt recognition. Although cardiovascular ultrasonography has a suboptimal accuracy rate for detecting aortic dissection, it is noninvasive, readily available, and easy to use. Recently, the concept of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) refers to the use of portable and/or implemented ultrasound at the patient’s bedside for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Aortic POCUS could become an important tool for aortic aneurysm screening and primary diagnosis of acute aortic dissection.