The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility and efficacy of terminating life-threatening ventricular tachyarrhythmia by low-energy synchronous or asynchronous shocks delivered through a transesophageal catheter that had both an anode and a cathode. Forty-three episodes of ventricular fibrillation or flutter (Vf or VF) were provoked by transesophageal asynchronous random shocks oc...

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES The usefulness and safety of transesophageal echocardiography have been assessed in other studies but there is no report in which these factors have been evaluated in the acute phase of myocardial infarction. Patients and method. Transesophageal echocardiography was performed 56 times in 55 patients in the first week after a myocardial infarction. RESULTS The study...

The purpose of this paper is to review the usefulness of multiplanar transesophageal echocardiography before, during and after percutaneous transcatheter closure of secundum atrial septal defects. Transesophageal echocardiography imaging techniques,including their role in patient selection, procedural guidance and immediate assessment of technical success and complications are described and dis...

To evaluate left-to-right shunts after percutaneous balloon mitral valvuloplasty, we studied 15 consecutive patients by using transesophageal color Doppler flow-imaging system. Transesophageal color Doppler examinations were performed five times in each patient (before valvuloplasty and 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, and 6 months after valvuloplasty). No shunt flow was observed before valvuloplasty. O...

BACKGROUND The Randomized Evaluation of Long-Term Anticoagulation Therapy (RE-LY) trial compared dabigatran 110 mg BID (D110) and 150 mg BID (D150) with warfarin for stroke prevention in 18 113 patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation. METHODS AND RESULTS Cardioversion on randomized treatment was permitted. Precardioversion transesophageal echocardiography was encouraged, particularly in...

BACKGROUND In spontaneously breathing cardiac patients, pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) can be accurately estimated from the transthoracic Doppler study of pulmonary artery and tricuspid regurgitation blood flows. In critically ill patients on mechanical ventilation for acute lung injury, the interposition of gas between the probe and the heart renders the transthoracic approach problematic. Th...

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to investigate the influence of injection rates of calibrating standard solution on monitoring pulse indicator continuous cardiac output (PICCO, made in Germany), and thereby to provide significant references for clinical practice. METHODS A total of 108 critical patients in stroke intensive care unit were identified. All these participants received transesophageal ...

BACKGROUND Coronary revascularization of the suspected culprit coronary lesion assessed by preoperative stress testing is not associated with improved outcome in vascular surgery patients. METHODS Fifty-four major vascular surgery patients underwent preoperative dobutamine echocardiography and intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography. The locations of left ventricular rest wall motion ...

1091 November 2014 A 13-yr-old female with congenital heart disease underwent cardiac transplantation. Postoperatively, the patient was noted to have edema and ulceration of her tongue (fig. A) following the intraoral course of the transesophageal echocardiography probe. The injury extended linearly, from the mid portion of the left anterior tongue to the right posterior tongue base and uvula. ...

Objective: Transesophageal echo-Doppler cardiac output as well as arterial pulse contour analyses cardiac output are increasingly used for cardiac output monitoring. No data are available whether both techniques may be used interchangeably in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Design: Prospective, observational study Setting: Operating rooms of a university affiliated hospital. Patients: 30 p...