Telemedicine to Timor-Leste: implementing an international cardiac telehealth service during population dislocation, floods and COVID-19.

Background: The East Timor Hearts Fund has provided cardiac services in Timor-Leste since 2010, conducting three clinics yearly.

Aim: To develop collaborative telehealth services between Australia and Timor-Leste in the context of international border closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Scoping discussions identified major challenges (structural, patient related and medical system related).

Single-View Echocardiography by Nonexpert Practitioners to Detect Rheumatic Heart Disease: A Prospective Study of Diagnostic Accuracy.

Background: Echocardiographic screening can detect asymptomatic cases of rheumatic heart disease (RHD), facilitating access to treatment. Barriers to implementation of echocardiographic screening include the requirement for expensive equipment and expert practitioners. We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of an abbreviated echocardiographic screening protocol (single parasternal-long-axis view with a sweep of the heart) performed by briefly trained, nonexpert practitioners using handheld ultrasound devices.