Application fields of intraoperative transesophageal 3D echocardiography

Abstract

Intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is an established diagnostic tool and has to be regarded as the standard of care for intraoperative monitoring and cardiac surgical decision-making. Furthermore, intraoperative TEE is also used for monitoring and assessment of hemodynamic changes and the detection of previously unknown pathologies. In the past few years 3D-TEE has extended the spectrum of 2D-TEE by allowing pathomorphological features to be more easily and intuitively linked to the anatomy of the heart and the great vessels. Thus, a comprehensive 2D-TEE examination is favorably complemented by focused 3D-TEE. Especially during mitral valve surgery, 3D-TEE has proven its superiority in the diagnosis of the underlying pathology as demonstrated by a large number of studies in this field. This review presents the available data about the role of intraoperative 3D-TEE echocardiography and introduces practical fields of application.