Nonbacterial thrombotic endocarditis (NBTE) is difficult to detect antemortem and is often not suspected until embolic events occur. Transthoracic echocardiography is useful in diagnosing NBTE, but it may be limited by suboptimal imaging and resolution. Herein we describe the first reported case of NBTE diagnosed by transesophageal echocardiography. As early detection and treatment may avert si...

BRONCHOGENIC CYSTS ARE UNCOMMON congenital lesions located within the mediastinum. These lesions usually are asymptomatic and rarely require surgical intervention. The authors present a unique case demonstrating intraoperative transesophageal echocardiographic evidence of superior vena cava (SVC) compression by a bronchogenic cyst without any preoperative clinical or sonographic evidence of vas...

Through the Life Cycle of Intraoperative Transesophageal Echocardiography (ETTI/SBA) the Brazilian Society of Anesthesiology, together with the Department of Cardiovascular Image of the Brazilian Society of Cardiology (DIC/SBC), createded a task force to standardize the use of intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography by Brazilian anesthesiologists and echocardiographers based on scientif...

OBJECTIVE Previous pathologic and roentgenographic studies have suggested a relation between aortic plaque and coronary artery disease but have lacked clinical utility. The study was undertaken to elucidate whether atherosclerotic aortic plaque detected by transesophageal echocardiography can be a clinically useful marker for significant obstructive coronary artery disease. METHODS Clinical a...

BACKGROUND The ability of transesophageal color Doppler echocardiography to provide high-resolution images of both cardiac structure and blood flow in real time is advantageous for many clinical purposes. This study was performed to determine the utility of the regurgitant jet width at its origin measured by transesophageal Doppler color flow imaging in the assessment of severity of mitral regu...

A 45-year-old female patient was admitted to our hospital with shortness of breath and swelling in the leg. Ten months prior to the admission she had undergone mitral valve replacement (31 St. Jude bioprosthesis) and tricuspid valve annuloplasty (33 Medtronic ring) because of carcinoid heart disease. All infective parameters were within the normal limits and no fever was detected. A two-dimensi...

BACKGROUND The study objective was to evaluate the role of transesophageal echocardiography in identifying the origin of anomalous coronary arteries and confirming their course in relation to the great vessels. The diagnosis of coronary anomalies is made by angiography. The anomalous left main artery with a course between the pulmonary artery and the aorta has been associated with myocardial in...

INTRODUCTION Microembolic signals are usually detected with transcranial doppler during cardiac surgery.This report focuses on suggesting the transesophageal echocardiography as a different diagnostic approach to detect microemboli during cardiopulmonary bypass. CASE PRESENTATION A 58 year old male patient, caucasian race, was operated on video assisted minimally invasive mitral valve repair ...

BACKGROUND There are two competing theories of the mechanism of blood flow during cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The "cardiac pump" theory postulates that blood flows because the heart is squeezed between the sternum and the spine. The "thoracic pump" theory postulates that blood flows from the thorax because intrathoracic pressure exceeds extrathoracic vascular pressure and that flow is restri...