title: Is transesophageal echocardiography overused in the diagnosis of infective endocarditis?
abstract: Because of its greater sensitivity, transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is often misused as a screening tool for the exclusion of infective endocarditis (IE) in patients with small clinical probability of the disease. This study examined the role of using TEE exclusively at a Canadian tertiary care center for the diagnosis of IE and determined which clinical variables are most often associated with positive or negative echocardiographic results supporting or refuting the diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Molly
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thangaroopan
authors.forename: Jonathan B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Choy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000416:Alberta / Q000453:epidemiology; D017548:Echocardiography, Transesophageal / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004697:Endocarditis, Bacterial / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D019564:Unnecessary Procedures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*