Zhonghua yi xue za zhi = Chinese medical journal; Free China ed
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Zhonghua Yi Xue Za Zhi (Taipei) · Aug 2001
Transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiographic diagnosis of aneurysm of the sinus of Valsalva: a review of five year experience.
Aneurysms of the sinus of Valsalva (SVA) are uncommon congenital lesions. The clinical presentations vary from asymptomatic to progressive heart failure following rupture of the aneurysm into an adjacent cardiac chamber. Retrograde aortogram is the diagnostic tool of choice preoperatively. Recent studies have demonstrated that the SVA can be accurately diagnosed using transthoracic two-dimensional, and color Doppler flow mapping, even for surgical preparation without cardiac catheterization. We report our 5-year experience of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in the evaluation of SVA. ⋯ TEE provides clearer definition for the detailed anatomy of the ruptured sac and co-existent cardiac lesions than TTE through high resolution and closer approach. We conclude that TEE is a powerful complementary diagnostic tool in the evaluation of patients with SVA. TEE also provides additionally useful information for guiding the surgical approach and for assessing the operative results even without cardiac catheterization.