الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Chest pain is one of the most frequent reasons for presentation to the Emergency Departments (EDs). The possible causes of chest pain are numerous and diverse, but importantly, several conditions, such as acute coronary syndrome, pulmonary embolism, cardiac tamponade, and aortic dissection, require urgent management and, in some cases, may be life-threatening. In such situations, a prompt and accurate diagnosis is vital. Two-dimensional echocardiography is a safe, painless and rapid test which can provide very useful information on the cardiovascular sys¬tem. Additionally, it can be easily performed at bed¬side in the Emergency Department and ensure a correct diagnosis as well as identify other complications and help institute appropriate management strategies swiftly.
When time is an important issue, introduction of a focused, simplified echocardiographic scheme for primary screening and reporting is desirable. Such algorithm should be easy to perform, reproducible, directed at the most common lifethreatening pathologies and possible to learn by a nonspecialist during a short training. The A-F mnemonic (table 4) meets all of these criteria and could be easy implemented in the emergency room settings.
The aim of the present work was to evaluate the role and usefulness of a focused transthoracic echocardiography with A-F mnemonic (table 4), performed by emergency physicians in the diagnosis of patients with acute chest pain.