Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography : official publication of the American Society of Echocardiography
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J Am Soc Echocardiogr · Mar 1999
Adherence to physician training guidelines for pediatric transesophageal echocardiography affects the outcome of patients undergoing repair of congenital cardiac defects.
Intraoperative echocardiography is widely accepted as being useful during a variety of cardiac surgical procedures. Several applications have been reported during the repair of congenital cardiac defects. National organizations, including the Society of Pediatric Echocardiography and the American Society of Echocardiography, have published guidelines for the provision of at least minimum standards of training and quality for a variety of cardiac ultrasonography procedures. ⋯ Those performing examinations in year 2 did not meet those guidelines. Significant differences between the years were found for adequacy of echocardiographic recordings, return to bypass for further surgery based on echocardiographic results, and prevalence and detection of significant residual problems by intraoperative echocardiography. It is concluded that patient outcome is affected beneficially when intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography is performed by physicians who meet the published guidelines, and whose sole responsibility is the performance of echocardiography.