Shortness of Breath

Dyspnea is a Class I indication for comprehensive echocardiography which is out of the scope of the focused cardiac ultrasound (FoCUS) examination. However the three main goals for FoCUS in this instance are:

1. To rule out pericardial effusion and tamponade by extension
2. Identify global LV systolic dysfunction,
3. To have an assessment of  the size of the right ventricle as a proxy for indicating the presence or absence of a hemodynamically significant pulmonary embolus.