Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Evaluation Of Handheld Point-of-Care-Ultrasound (POCUS) in Screening for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm in Men : A Comparative, Cohort Study

Starck, Joachim LU ; Brunkwall, Silke ; Gottsäter, Anders LU and Holst, Jan LU (2025) In Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology 51(10). p.1840-1845
Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) using ultrasound in men reduces aneurysm-related mortality. Ambulatory screening and surveillance procedures facilitated by point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) may improve adherence to screening programs. This proof-of-concept study evaluated whether infrarenal aortic diameter (IAD) can be accurately and interchangeably measured using handheld POCUS-an ultrasound probe connected to a tablet-compared to standard cart-based ultrasound equipment.

METHODS: This comparative cohort study included men with an IAD of 25-29 mm during AAA screening and re-examined them after 5-12 years, anticipating most would approach the 30 mm AAA threshold. Three IAD measurements were taken using both... (More)

OBJECTIVE: Screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) using ultrasound in men reduces aneurysm-related mortality. Ambulatory screening and surveillance procedures facilitated by point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) may improve adherence to screening programs. This proof-of-concept study evaluated whether infrarenal aortic diameter (IAD) can be accurately and interchangeably measured using handheld POCUS-an ultrasound probe connected to a tablet-compared to standard cart-based ultrasound equipment.

METHODS: This comparative cohort study included men with an IAD of 25-29 mm during AAA screening and re-examined them after 5-12 years, anticipating most would approach the 30 mm AAA threshold. Three IAD measurements were taken using both POCUS (Lumify™, Philips) and standard US (LOGIQ™ 9E, GE). Bias, limits of agreement between devices and repeatability within devices were evaluated. Sensitivity and specificity of POCUS for AAA detection (IAD ≥30 mm) compared to standard ultrasound were also assessed.

RESULTS: In total, 230 men participated. The median age was 75.0 years (IQR: 72.9-76.5), BMI 27.7 (26.0-30.5), and IAD 27.1 mm (23.7-32.8) respectively. POCUS underestimated IAD by 0.3 mm compared to standard US, with 95% limits of agreement ±3.0 mm. Repeatability was ±2.5 mm for standard ultrasound and ±3.2 mm for POCUS. The sensitivity and specificity of POCUS for AAA diagnosis, compared to standard ultrasound, are 94% and 98%, respectively.

CONCLUSION: POCUS showed no systematic bias of clinical importance in measuring IAD although with a slightly wider repeatability interval compared to standard US implying the possibility to consider POCUS devices for AAA-screening purposes.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Humans, Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal/diagnostic imaging, Male, Aged, Ultrasonography/methods, Point-of-Care Systems, Sensitivity and Specificity, Cohort Studies, Reproducibility of Results, Mass Screening/methods, Aorta, Abdominal/diagnostic imaging
in
Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology
volume
51
issue
10
pages
1840 - 1845
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:105012093663
  • pmid:40738797
ISSN
0301-5629
DOI
10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2025.07.004
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Copyright © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
id
7776ff14-fba8-4ab5-8861-a23bcb2bf31f
date added to LUP
2025-10-11 16:32:59
date last changed
2025-10-14 11:58:09
@article{7776ff14-fba8-4ab5-8861-a23bcb2bf31f,
  abstract     = {{<p>OBJECTIVE: Screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) using ultrasound in men reduces aneurysm-related mortality. Ambulatory screening and surveillance procedures facilitated by point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) may improve adherence to screening programs. This proof-of-concept study evaluated whether infrarenal aortic diameter (IAD) can be accurately and interchangeably measured using handheld POCUS-an ultrasound probe connected to a tablet-compared to standard cart-based ultrasound equipment.</p><p>METHODS: This comparative cohort study included men with an IAD of 25-29 mm during AAA screening and re-examined them after 5-12 years, anticipating most would approach the 30 mm AAA threshold. Three IAD measurements were taken using both POCUS (Lumify™, Philips) and standard US (LOGIQ™ 9E, GE). Bias, limits of agreement between devices and repeatability within devices were evaluated. Sensitivity and specificity of POCUS for AAA detection (IAD ≥30 mm) compared to standard ultrasound were also assessed.</p><p>RESULTS: In total, 230 men participated. The median age was 75.0 years (IQR: 72.9-76.5), BMI 27.7 (26.0-30.5), and IAD 27.1 mm (23.7-32.8) respectively. POCUS underestimated IAD by 0.3 mm compared to standard US, with 95% limits of agreement ±3.0 mm. Repeatability was ±2.5 mm for standard ultrasound and ±3.2 mm for POCUS. The sensitivity and specificity of POCUS for AAA diagnosis, compared to standard ultrasound, are 94% and 98%, respectively.</p><p>CONCLUSION: POCUS showed no systematic bias of clinical importance in measuring IAD although with a slightly wider repeatability interval compared to standard US implying the possibility to consider POCUS devices for AAA-screening purposes.</p>}},
  author       = {{Starck, Joachim and Brunkwall, Silke and Gottsäter, Anders and Holst, Jan}},
  issn         = {{0301-5629}},
  keywords     = {{Humans; Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal/diagnostic imaging; Male; Aged; Ultrasonography/methods; Point-of-Care Systems; Sensitivity and Specificity; Cohort Studies; Reproducibility of Results; Mass Screening/methods; Aorta, Abdominal/diagnostic imaging}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{10}},
  pages        = {{1840--1845}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology}},
  title        = {{Evaluation Of Handheld Point-of-Care-Ultrasound (POCUS) in Screening for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm in Men : A Comparative, Cohort Study}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2025.07.004}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2025.07.004}},
  volume       = {{51}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}