Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography : official publication of the American Society of Echocardiography
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We report the diagnosis of intracoronary air embolism by transesophageal echocardiography in 2 patients undergoing open heart surgery. The sudden appearance of inferior wall akinesis with increased brightness of the area immediately after removal of the aortic cross clamp and spontaneous resolution of the abnormalities support the diagnosis of intracoronary air embolism.
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J Am Soc Echocardiogr · Aug 2002
Case ReportsEntrapment of mitral chordal apparatus causing early postoperative dysfunction of a St. Jude mitral prosthesis.
Preservation of subvalvular apparatus is increasingly performed during mitral valve replacement. We describe a case of early postoperative St. Jude mitral valve dysfunction as a result of chordal entrapment.
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J Am Soc Echocardiogr · Aug 2002
Comparative StudyDoppler tissue velocity, strain, and strain rate imaging with transesophageal echocardiography in the operating room: a feasibility study.
Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is increasingly used to monitor regional myocardial function during cardiac operation. Doppler myocardial imaging (DMI) indices can potentially provide new information on regional radial and longitudinal myocardial motion and local deformation. This study examined the feasibility of TEE acquisition of regional radial and longitudinal velocity, displacement (D), strain, and strain rate data during cardiac operation and evaluated the effects of sternotomy and pericardial opening on these indices. ⋯ DMI with TEE is feasible during cardiac operation. During pericardial opening, longitudinal D decreases in the septum, but not in the inferior wall. DMI requires further evaluation in the assessment of ventricular function and the detection of ischemia in the operating room.
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A miniaturized 5.5 to 10 MHz, phased-array, single longitudinal plane transducer mounted on a 3.3-mm diameter catheter (miniaturized transesophageal echocardiography [TEE]) may overcome mechanical limitations of standard pediatric transesophageal probes. We evaluated whether the miniaturized TEE probe could define clinically relevant anatomy in 17 infants who weighed less than 6 kg. ⋯ Miniaturized TEE provided diagnostic intraoperative TEE in the majority of infants studied and may allow broader and safer application of TEE to neonates and small infants.
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J Am Soc Echocardiogr · Jun 2002
Case ReportsAortic valve commissural tear mimicking type A aortic dissection.
A 52-year-old man came to the local emergency department with symptoms of heart failure and transient chest pain. Transthoracic echocardiography showed severe aortic regurgitation and a dilated ascending aorta. Aortic dissection was suspected, and he was transferred to our institution. ⋯ Histopathologic examination of the aorta confirmed the visual appearance of cystic medial necrosis. Aortic valve commissural tear is a rare event, which may lead to severe aortic regurgitation. This entity may lead to the false-positive transesophageal echocardiographic diagnosis of type A dissection.