Diagnosis of Acute Heart Failure Using Inferior Vena Cava Ultrasound: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Abstract

Objectives: The utility of bedside inferior vena cava (IVC) ultrasound (US) in the diagnosis of heart failure (HF) is unclear. The aim of this study was to determine whether IVC parameters in patients with acute heart failure (AHF) are statistically different from those without HF. Methods: The MEDLINE database of English-language publications from 1966 to August 2018 was searched. Retrospective and prospective studies that included either IVC expiratory diameter (IVCexp) or IVC collapsibility index (IVC-CI) values were collected in patients with and without HF. to determine whether there was a statistical difference in the IVC parameters between these groups. Results: A total of 27 articles with a total of 1472 patients with AHF were included. The standard mean differences for the IVCexp and IVC-CI for the control group versus the AHF group were found to be statistically significant (P