Abstract
Cardiac ultrasound is a common practice in neonatal units. The indication for examination may be a clinical suspicion of a structural or functional heart defect, but it is increasingly an important tool in differential-diagnostic procedures in critically ill newborns.
Examinations are usually performed by a neonatologist, often without appropriate qualifications and training. In recent years, echocardiography education and training in neonatology has developed in two directions.
The first is a special, advanced training in neonatology with a comprehensive understanding of hemodynamics, the purpose of the second direction is the development of basic ultrasound skills needed for clinical decision-making in most neonatologists. However, the primary goal is to present basic rules of echocardiography, to describe the basic cardiac views, how to display them and the description of anatomical structures.