• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.335-340
• /
• 1992

Truamatic aortic rupture is usually fatal if left untreated. Prompt diagnosis is the cornerstone of suscessful management. But the usual screening tests are non specific and the accuracy of computerized tomography is low, Aortography which is a time consuming procedure may result in false-positive interpretations and significant morbidity. Recently transesophageal echocardiography provides a rapid, effective and relatively safe means of evaluating the distal aortic arch and also affords the opportunity to evaluate the heart during the same study, which may be of benefit in cases of suspected cardiac injury. The experience with the traumatic aortic ruptured patient and a critical review of the literature suggests that transesophageal echocardiography is a useful technique for the diagnosis of ruptured aorta following blunt chest trauma.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.30 no.12
• /
• pp.1205-1213
• /
• 1997

This study reviewed useful aspects of the intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography among the patients in whom heart surgery were undertaken between January 1996 and July 1996 at St.Pauls hospital, Medical College of Catholic University, Seoul, Korea. During that period, 61 patients were operated on because of valvular heart disease(25 patients), coronary artery disease(22 patients), congenital heart disease(13 patients), and combined coronary artery disease and valvular heart disease(1 patient). Two patients(1 redo-VSD and 1 valvular heart diease) needed repeated aortic cross clamping and complementary procedures because of incomplete initial procedures. There was no incidence of air embolism. We could observe significant relationship of cardiac output monitoring methods either by thermodilution technique and transesophageal echocardiography by linear regression analysis(p<0.001). We tested myocardial response(percentage of systolic wall thickness, PSWT) with low dose dobutamine challenge to predict post-CABG myocardial perfusion. And the test showed statistically significant resp.onse(sensitivity 76%, specificity 94.7%, positive predictive value 95%, negative predictive value 75%). These results suggest that cardiac surgeon could draw more benefits by intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.24 no.3
• /
• pp.265-270
• /
• 1991

Since advent of the prosthetic cardiac valve replacement, much efforts for accurate assessing value function in-vivo have been attempted. To evaluate the postoperative functional and morphological status of the replaced cardiac valve prosthesis, 33 patients with valve replacement were studied by transthoracic and transesophageal 2-dimensional echocardiac imaging as well as by color Doppler flow velocity imaging. Twenty four patients had mitral valve replacement. 6 patients had aortic valve replacement and 3 patients had both mitral and aortic valve replacement. There were 34 mechanical and 2 biological prosthesis. Comparing to transthoracic echocardiography, transesophageal approach showed transvalvular regurgitant jet flow amid the prosthetic mitral valve ring during. systole and much clear visualization of cardiac chamber behind prosthesis which could give shadowing effect to ultrasound beam. According to the quantitative grading by the length and area of mitral regurgitant flow, 24 out of 27 mitral valves revealed mild degree regurgitation considered as physiological after prosthetic bileaflet valve replacement and the other 3 valves including 2 biological prosthesis had moderate degree regurgitation which was regarded as pathologic one. 2 cases of left atrial thromboses and 1 case of paravalvular leakage which were not visible by transthoracic approach were identified by transesophageal echocardiography in patients with mitral valve replacement and patients with aortic valve replacement respectively. We conclude that in patients with prosthetic mitral valve replacement, transesophageal 2-dimensional imaging with color Doppler can suggest reliable information beyond that available from the transthoracic access even though it gives patient some discomfort to proceed.

• Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.24-25
• /
• 2023

• Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging
• /
• v.31 no.4
• /
• pp.188-190
• /
• 2023

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.42 no.4
• /
• pp.528-531
• /
• 2009

Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is widely used to evaluate the heart function and the result of surgery during a cardiac operation. The incidence of complications associated with TEE is low, yet critical complications such as lower pharyngeal injury and esophageal perforation may happen. We report hereon a case of 77-year old male patient who suffered from injury to the pyriform sinus and concurrent deep neck infection after off pump coronary artery bypass surgery and intraoperative TEE.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
• /
• v.34 no.2
• /
• pp.136-140
• /
• 2021

We present a case of delayed diagnosis of traumatic tricuspid valve rupture in a patient who was emergently brought to the operating room for repair of lacerations to the heart and liver without intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). Initial postoperative transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) did not show structural pathology. One week later, TTE with better image quality showed severe tricuspid regurgitation. Subsequently, TEE clearly demonstrated rupture of the anterior papillary muscle and flail anterior tricuspid leaflet. The case description is followed by a brief discussion of the utility of TEE in the setting of blunt thoracic trauma.

• Annals of Clinical Neurophysiology
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.105-108
• /
• 2018

Persistent left superior vena cava (PLSVC) is a common venous anomaly of the thorax and usually drains into the right atrium. Less often it drains into the left atrium and has previously been related to ischemic stroke. We report a case of PLSCV that founded during ischemic stroke evaluation in a 77-year-old woman which was detected on transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) and transcranial Doppler ultrasonography (TCD) with saline agitated test and computed tomography.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.36 no.11
• /
• pp.834-838
• /
• 2003

Background: Deairing from the heart after open heart surgery(cardiopulmonary bypass) is a very important procedure. Artificial arteriovenous fistula was used to remove air, and the efficiency was evaluated by transesophageal echocardiography. Material and Method: Just before termination of cardiopulmonary bypass, a standard pressure transducer line is connected between the stopcocks of the connections in the arterial and venous circuits, creating a small controlled arteriovenous fistula between the arterial and venous cannulas. The degree of intracardiac air and air removal time were evaluated either by transesophageal echocardiography or direct vision of pressure transducer line. Result: By simple procedure, cardiopulmonary time was shortened and air clearing can be confirmed using echocardiography in a few minutes. Conclusion: Creation of arteriovenous fistula using small connecting line between aortic and venous cannula is a very simple and effective method of deairing and preventing of air embolism after open heart surgery.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.40 no.9
• /
• pp.637-640
• /
• 2007

Papillary fibroelastoma is a rare benign cardiac tumor with an elevated risk for embolization and most papillary fibroelastomas do not cause symptoms. In this report, we describe a case of previous undiagnosed masses of the aortic valve that were incidentally found on intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography during coronary artery bypass surgery. Upon surgery, masses were found on the left and right aortic cusps and the pathological findings were consistent with a papillary fibroelastoma.