From the Guidelines
Transesophageal Echocardiography (TEE) is a highly valuable tool for assessing various cardiac parameters, including cardiac structure, function, and hemodynamics, and its use is considered highly appropriate in certain clinical scenarios, such as evaluating ventricular function and size, valvular function, and detecting atrial level shunts 1. The parameters that can be assessed through TEE include:
- Cardiac structure, such as the intrathoracic aorta, native and prosthetic valves, and ventricular function
- Valvular function, including stenosis, regurgitation, and prosthetic valve function
- Atrial and ventricular septal defects
- Cardiac masses, such as tumors and thrombi
- Pericardial effusions
- Thoracic aorta for dissection, aneurysm, or atherosclerosis
- Pulmonary artery pressure and right heart function
- Great vessel relationships
- Systemic and pulmonary venous connections TEE is especially useful in patients with poor transthoracic image quality, and it provides essential intracardiac information that may not be available from other imaging modalities, such as MRI or CT 1. The use of TEE is recommended in clinical scenarios where its findings have significant implications for patient management, such as before cardioversion or ablation in unanticoagulated patients with atrial flutter or atrial fibrillation, and in the surgical repair or palliation of congenital heart conditions 1.
From the Research
Parameters Assessed through Transesophageal Echocardiography (TEE)
The following parameters can be assessed through TEE:
- Cardiac structure and function 2, 3, 4
- Valvular anatomy and morphology 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
- Aortic structure and pathology, including dissection and atherosclerosis 2
- Intracardiac dimensions and structures, such as left ventricular short-axis view, 2- or 4-chamber view, mitral and tricuspid valve ring, and atrial septum 5
- Hemodynamic parameters, including volumes and pressures 3
- Anatomy of all cardiac structures and their functional status 3
- Presence of intracardiac masses or thrombi 3
- Mitral regurgitation 4
- Prosthetic cardiac valve dysfunction 4
- Detection of an intracardiac source of embolism 4
- Endocarditis 4
- Cardiac and paracardiac masses 4
- Thoracic aortic dissection, aneurysm, ulceration, trauma, and congenital or inherited malformation 2, 4
Specific Views and Structures
TEE can provide detailed views of various cardiac structures, including: