[Ambulatory transesophageal echocardiography: 2 years of experience].
In this report we study the value of ambulatory transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in the clinical setting after a 2-year experience at our department. Since December 1988 until February 1991, 470 TEE examinations were indicated in 430 patients. Excluded were 8 cases, two out of them due to a formal contraindication and six who did not tolerate the procedure. The clinical indications for the examination, in the 462 studies performed, were as follows: possible cardiac source of emboli in 165 (35%); native mitral valve disease in 91 (20%); prosthetic valve dysfunction in 54 (12%); diseases of the aorta in 44 (10%); suspected infective endocarditis in 41 (9%); study of left ventricular function in 26 (6%); congenital heart disease in 18 (4%); tumor or intracardiac mass in 11 (2%); miscellaneous in 12 (2%). Based on this experience, we can conclude that TEE is a clinically useful technique for: 1) the study of mitral regurgitation, either native or prosthetic; 2) the detection of vegetations and abscesses in infective endocarditis; 3) the evaluation of a possible cardiac source of emboli; 4) the examination of the aorta in cases of suspected dissection; 5) the completion of the anatomic study in some congenital heart diseases, particularly after a surgical correction; 6) the study of patients with a technically inadequate transthoracic approach.
Carreras
F
F
Departamento de Cardiología, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona.
Borrás
X
X
Gumá
J
J
Pons Lladó
G
G
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D002648:Child; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D004947:Esophagus; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011475:Prosthesis Failure
Ecocardiografía transesofágica ambulatoria: dos años de experiencia.