Appropriate use of transesophageal echocardiography at a primary care medical center

Abstract

In response to the increased rate of cardiovascular imaging studies being performed annually and to encourage a rationale use of cardiovascular imaging, the Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC) for Echocardiography was established in 2007, with an update in 2011 [1–11]. These criteria defined a standard set of procedural indications for performing echocardiography and classified each indication as being appropriate, uncertain, or inappropriate [2,3]. A number of medical centers have used these AUC to assess their own utilization of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE).