Abstract
Recent studies described the diagnostic value of transesophageal echocardiography in patients with different diseases of the heart and the thoracic aorta.1–8 However, the risk and potential complications of the transesophageal approach are still under discussion. Schlueter et al6 reported no major side effects during the transesophageal approach in 300 consecutive patients. In accordance with these results, Engberding et al7 also observed no complications using the transesophageal technique in patients with aortic dissection or aortic aneurysm. More recently and in a similar patient population, Erbel et al8 described a 1% incidence of side effects (namely, 1 patient with an attack of asthma and another who experienced a transient atrioventricular heart block). In a prospective study in 54 consecutive patients with different heart diseases undergoing transesophageal echocardiography, we evaluated the presence and severity of “side effects” such as cardiac arrhythmias, marked changes in blood pressure or heart rate and evidence of myocardial ischemia during the diagnostic procedure.
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