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Table 1 Medical Knowledge core competencies in echocardiography according to COCATS and corresponding cardiac pathologies extracted from echocardiography reports

From: Variable exposure to echocardiography core competencies when applying minimum recommended procedural numbers for cardiology fellows in training

Core Competencies

Cardiac Pathology

“Know the techniques to quantify cardiac chamber sizes and evaluate left and right ventricular systolic and diastolic function and hemodynamics.”

“Know the characteristic findings of cardiomyopathies”

Left ventricular dilation

Left ventricular systolic dysfunction

Left ventricular wall motion abnormalities

“Know the techniques to assess pulmonary artery pressure and diseases of the right heart.”

Right ventricular dilation

Right ventricular systolic dysfunction

Pulmonary hypertension

“Know the echocardiographic findings of pericardial disease, pericardial effusion, and pericardial constriction.”

Pericardial constriction

Pericardial effusion

Pericardial tamponade

“Know the use of echocardiographic and Doppler data to evaluate native and prosthetic valve function and diseases.”

Aortic stenosis

Aortic regurgitation

Mitral stenosis

Mitral regurgitation

Prosthetic valve dysfunction (eg stenosis, regurgitation, or patient-prosthetic mismatch)

“Know the techniques to evaluate diseases of the aorta.”

Aortic dilation

Aortic dissection

“Know the characteristic findings of basic adult congenital heart disease.”

Presence of adult congenital heart disease

“Know the techniques to evaluate cardiac masses and suspected endocarditis.”

“Know the indications for, and the echocardiographic findings in, patients with known or suspected cardioembolic events.”

Valvular mass/thrombus

Cardiac chamber mass/thrombus