UWHC School of Diagnostic Sonography, Madison, Wisconsin 53792, USA.
J Am Soc Echocardiogr. 2009 Dec;22(12):1409-13. doi: 10.1016/j.echo.2009.10.002.
Echocardiographic examinations require a well-trained and competent sonographer to obtain proper anatomic and physiologic data to establish an accurate diagnosis for clinical decision-making and patient management. Although the formal education and training of cardiovascular sonographers are evolving, many entry-level and staff sonographers may not have sufficient practical or clinical knowledge of the necessary components of the echocardiographic study for the individual patient's clinical presentation. In many clinical settings, echocardiograms are read after the patient has left the laboratory. Thus, there is a role for a sonographer who can practice at an advanced level in a cardiovascular ultrasound laboratory to ensure a proper echocardiographic examination is performed on every patient. In this setting, an Advanced Cardiovascular Sonographer (ACS) would be able to review the indication for and quality of the examination. If additional images were needed, the ACS would assist the sonographer in obtaining these images, which would lead to the performance of a complete and fully diagnostic examination before the patient had left the echocardiography laboratory. In clinical practice, the quality of the examinations performed would improve, advancements in echocardiographic methods could be taught and incorporated into daily practice, and patients would be better served. The present report is a proposal from the American Society of Echocardiography Advanced Practice Task Force that identifies the potential of cardiac sonographers to achieve the ACS level.
超声心动图检查需要经过良好培训和有能力的超声技师来获取适当的解剖和生理数据，以便为临床决策和患者管理做出准确的诊断。尽管心血管超声技师的正规教育和培训在不断发展，但许多入门级和在职超声技师可能对个体患者临床表现的超声心动图研究的必要组成部分缺乏足够的实践或临床知识。在许多临床环境中，患者离开实验室后才会对超声心动图进行解读。因此，需要有一位能够在心血管超声实验室中以高级水平执业的超声技师，以确保对每位患者进行适当的超声心动图检查。在这种情况下，高级心血管超声技师（ACS）能够审查检查的适应证和质量。如果需要额外的图像，ACS 将协助超声技师获取这些图像，从而在患者离开超声心动图实验室之前完成完整的、具有充分诊断价值的检查。在临床实践中，提高检查质量，将超声心动图方法的进展教授并融入日常实践中，使患者得到更好的服务。本报告是美国超声心动图学会高级实践工作组提出的一项建议，旨在确定心脏超声技师达到 ACS 水平的潜力。
