ArticleJournal of cardiovascular echography
Contemporary Management of Cleaning and Disinfection Processes for Echocardiographic Equipment and Probes: National Real-world Data from an Italian Society of Echocardiography and Cardiovascular Imaging Survey.
Article in Journal of cardiovascular echography. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Special Statement: Reducing the risk of transmitting infection during ultrasound examination-Updated 2026.Pregnancy (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2026Article
- Tackling a global threat: a clinical scenario-based framework for preventing and managingFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Effective hygiene practices are crucial to mitigate infection risks in echocardiographic procedures. We conducted a nationwide survey to assess real-world disinfection standards in Italian echocardiography laboratories, measure adherence to core hygiene indicators, and identify structural determinants of compliance. Methods: A 35-item questionnaire was distributed to 331 accredited centers. Compliance was defined as adherence to ≥5 of 7 core hygiene indicators. Multivariable logistic regression identified predictors of high compliance. Results: Glove use (92.7%) and probe sheathing (34%-38%) were common, but high-level disinfection (HLD) remained underused (38.2% for surface probes and 64.7% for transesophageal echocardiography [TEE] probes). Only 48.3% of centers had traceability for TEE probe cleaning. Overall, 43.8% of centers achieved high compliance. Independent predictors included female gender (odds ratio [OR]: 2.37, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.49-3.75), hospital setting (OR: 2.50, 95% CI: 1.22-5.12), and high procedural volume (OR: 2.32, 95% CI: 1.45-3.71). Compliance varied by care setting, with outpatient clinics generally showing better adherence than emergency and intensive care units. Conclusions: Significant heterogeneity exists in disinfection practices across Italian echo laboratories, with persistent gaps in HLD, traceability, and environmental hygiene. Compliance was driven by operator characteristics and center-level factors rather than general institutional policies. These findings call for workflow-integrated protocols and targeted training to ensure standardized practice.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.