Transesophageal echocardiographic evaluation during aortic valve repair surgery.
For patients with aortic valve (AV) disease, the classic treatment has been AV replacement and this remains true for aortic stenosis. In contrast, repair of isolated aortic insufficiency (AI), with or without aortic root pathology, is emerging as a feasible and attractive option to replacement. The AV is one of the elements of the aortic root. As such, AI can develop if one or more elements of the aortic root are diseased. Intraoperative transesophageal echocardiographic evaluation permits analysis of the mechanisms of aortic regurgitation as well as differentiation between repairable and unrepairable AV pathology. Immediate postrepair transesophageal echocardiography provides important information about the quality and durability of repair and identifies variables associated with recurrent AI.
Department of Anesthesiology, Cliniques universitaires St-Luc, Université catholique de Louvain, Avenue Hippocrate 10-1821, B-1200 Brussels, Belgium. michel.vandyck@uclouvain.be
Michel J
MJ
Van Dyck
Christine
C
Watremez
Munir
M
Boodhwani
Jean-Louis
JL
Vanoverschelde
Gebrine
G
El Khoury
D001014:Aortic Aneurysm / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery; D001021:Aortic Valve / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery*; D001022:Aortic Valve Insufficiency / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D001023:Aortic Valve Prolapse / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D017548:Echocardiography, Transesophageal / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008943:Mitral Valve / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D016343:Monitoring, Intraoperative; D011184:Postoperative Period