Preliminary evaluation of transesophageal echocardiography in patients with serious calcific aortic stenosis undergoing transcatheter aortic Corevalve implantation

Abstract

Objective To explore the evaluation of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in patients with serious calcific aortic stenosis undergoing transcatheter aortic Corevalve implantation(TAVI).Methods Eleven patients with serious calcific aortic stenosis underwent TAVI.Philips iE33 color Doppler ultrasound diagnostic instrument was used,equipped with transesophageal probe X7-2t.Aortic valve lesions area and degree,aortic root dimension,inner diameter of ascending aorta were evaluated before Corevalve implantation by TEE.The position of balloon was monitoring during implantation,Corevalves functior and positon after implantation were observed.Results TAVI for nine subjects were succeeded.Other two subjects reached the ideal result after 2 Corevalve implantation.The Corevalve postion was stable.Aortic peak gradient [(89.82 ± 25.84)mmHg vs (19.18 ± 5.65) mmHg,P ＜0.01] and mean pressure gradient [(55.00 ± 20.05)mmHg vs (9.91 ± 3.02)mmHg,P ＜0.01] declined obviously,effective aortic valve area increased markedly [(0.57± 0.16)cm2 vs (1.55 ± 0.31)cm2,P ＜0.01].Conclusions TAVI was an effective treatment for patient with serious calcific aortic stenosis,TEE played an important role during TAVI. Key words: Echocardiography, transesophageal; Aortic valve stenosis; Heart valve prosthesis implantation