Abstract
Assessment of unexplained hypoxemia and the inability to wean a patient from ventilatory support are potential uses of echocardiography in the intensive care unit. Causes of hypoxemia that can be diagnosed by echocardiography include intracardiac right-to-left shunting, pulmonary embolus, and disorders of the left ventricle such as left ventricular systolic and/or diastolic dysfunction and mitral valvular abnormalities that can lead to pulmonary edema. If no cardiac abnormality is identified (ventricular or valvular dysfunction), right-to-left shunting must be considered, and the most common cause is patent foramen ovale (PFO).
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Lorini, F.L., Rossetto, B., Ferri, F. (2019). Unexplained Hypoxemia. In: Sarti, A., Lorini, F. (eds) Textbook of Echocardiography for Intensivists and Emergency Physicians. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99891-6_36
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99891-6_36
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