Introduction: Objective: to evaluate the feasibility and clinical usefulness of a handheld echocardiograph (HHE) for the assessment of left ventricular abnormalities in hypertensive patients presenting in a family physician practice Method and materials: Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), dilatation (LVD) and the ejection fraction (EF) were assessed using a severity score on fi rst presenting hypertensive patients. They were scanned using a HHE (V scan, GE) by a trained family physician and independently by a trained cardiologist on a standard echo machine (SEM, Siemens) in a blinded fashion. The degree of agreement was assessed by kappa correlation. Results: 30 hypertensive patients with a mean age of 62±7.8 years were studied during a pilot phase of 2 weeks. LVH was correctly identified by HHE in 9 (32%) with very good correlation between HHE and SEM (kappa>0,8). Correlation for LVD and EF was moderate (kappa>0,5). We excluded 2 patients due to low image quality. Conclusions: the screening of hypertensive patients by a trained family physician using a HHE was useful mainly for assessment of the presence LVH and the further referral of the patients with left wall motion abnormalities.