Utility and diagnostic accuracy of hand-carried ultrasound for emergency room evaluation of chest pain.

This study examined the utility and accuracy of immediate hand-carried echocardiography in patients presenting to the emergency room with chest pain and a normal or nondiagnostic electrocardiogram. Hand-carried echocardiography was highly concordant (kappa = 0.8) with troponin T tests as well as the discharge diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome, had a 100% sensitivity for the detection of acute coronary syndrome, 93% specificity, and 71% and 100% positive and negative predictive values, respectively.