[Efficacy of transesophageal echocardiography in patients with cardiac arrest or shock].
OBJECTIVE
Only a few examinations are available to critically ill patients. We assessed the efficacy of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in the management of patients with cardiac arrest or shock.


METHODS
Among a total of 2,021 patients who underwent TEE over the past 13 years at our institution, we reviewed 18 patients who underwent TEE during cardiac arrest or shock.


RESULTS
TEE was performed in four patients with cardiac arrest and in 14 patients with shock. In 12 (67%) of 18 patients, TEE identified the following abnormalities: aortic dissection in four, ruptured thoracic aortic aneurysm in two, papillary muscle rupture in two, left ventricular free wall rupture in two, postoperative cardiac tamponade in one and ruptured chordae tendineae in one. TEE excluded suspected cardiac abnormality in two other patients. Transthoracic echocardiography could not be performed in 8 of 18 patients, and showed poor quality of images in the remaining 10 patients. Of the 12 patients with a diagnosis based on TEE, three patients died during cardiopulmonary resuscitation, whereas nine patients were treated with emergent surgery and six of these survived to hospital discharge.


CONCLUSIONS
TEE is feasible even in patients with cardiac arrest or shock, and can play an important role in establishing the diagnosis and determining the treatment of such patients.
Miyake
Makoto
M
Department of Cardiology, Tenri Hospital, Mishima-cho 200, Tenri, Nara 632-8852.
Izumi
Chisato
C
Takahashi
Shuichi
S
Himura
Yoshihiro
Y
Gen
Hiromitsu
H
Konishi
Takashi
T
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016887:Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation; D017548:Echocardiography, Transesophageal / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012770:Shock, Cardiogenic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*