Functional Echocardiography
Targeted echocardiography (aka Functional Neonatal echocardiography) is a point of care echocardiography performed by non-cardiologist to assess and longitudinally monitor cardiac function, systemic and pulmonary blood flow, intra/extra-cardiac shunts (foramen ovale and PDA) and organ blood flow that will help support clinical decisions in an intensive care setting. The purpose of functional echocardiography at the bedside is to provide additional information to the clinician to help guide management of complex neonates.
Training and certification in targeted echocardiography is a significant time investment requiring dedicated time in second-year and application for a third-year of training. In addition, NPM trainees interested in targeted echocardiography training and certification should generally choose a targeted echocardiography-related scholarly project.