Death and Ultrasound Evidence of the Akinetic Heart in Pediatric Cardiac Arrest.

Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is an expanding noninvasive diagnostic modality used for the management of patients in multiple intensive care and pediatric specialties. POCUS is used to assess cardiac activity and pathology, pulmonary disease, intravascular volume status, intra-abdominal processes, procedural guidance including vascular access, lumbar puncture, thoracentesis, paracentesis, and pericardiocentesis. POCUS has also been used to determine anterograde flow following circulatory arrest when organ donation after circulatory death is being considered. Published guidelines exist from multiple medical societies including the recent guidelines for the use of POCUS in neonatology for diagnostic and procedural purposes.
Competing Interests: Dr. Su received funding from Stanford University School of Medicine, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio; he disclosed that he has had a past relationship with Children’s Hospital and Medical Center, Omaha. Dr. Nakagawa received author royalties from Wolters-Kluwer and UpToDate. The remaining authors have disclosed that they do not have any potential conflicts of interest.
(Copyright © 2023 by the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies.)