Echocardiography fundamentals for general paediatricians — branching viva

A paediatric clinic: a six-year-old boy is referred after a GP heard a heart murmur. The cardiologist's echocardiogram report describes a bicuspid aortic valve with a peak continuous-wave Doppler velocity of 4 metres per second across the valve, a normal left ventricular Z-score, and a normal aortic root. The examiner asks how you would systematically read the report, why the Z-score matters, and what the velocity means — then branches to the echo modalities and their roles, to the distinction between the comprehensive study and the focused point-of-care ultrasound, and finally to the resuscitation of a duct-dependent neonate with prostaglandin.