title: [Contribution of transesophageal echocardiography in intensive care: a prospective assessment].
abstract: The benefits of transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE) were assessed prospectively in intensive care patients. The doctors carrying out TOE were not the same as those who ordered it. TOE was performed in 32 patients, all of whom but one were intubated and artificially ventilated, to elucidate the cause of circulatory shock, or to search for valvular vegetations or an intracardiac mass. TOE confirmed the diagnosis previously obtained with pulmonary arterial catheterization (10 patients), transthoracic echocardiography (3 patients) or ventriculography (1 patient) in 54% of cases. In 28% of cases, TOE invalidated the suspected diagnosis, and, in the remaining 28% of patients, TOE invalidated provided a previously unsuspected diagnosis. TOE was particularly useful in confirming the presence of valvular vegetations, endocarditis, or intracardiac thrombi, and to assess left ventricular function and preload in patients in shock. Like others, this study confirms the benefits of TOE in the intensive care setting.
authors.affiliation: Département d'Anesthésie-Réanimation, Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Puybasset
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saada
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Catoire
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bonnet
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003422:Critical Care; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000379:methods*; D004947:Esophagus; D005260:Female; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012769:Shock / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left
vernacular_title: Apport de l'échocardiographie transoesophagienne en réanimation: évaluation prospective.