How is TEE performed?
As opposed to the standard echocardiogram, in which the transducer is placed over the chest wall, in TEE the transducer is passed into the esophagus (the swallowing tube) and is positioned directly behind the heart.To do the procedure, the patient is sedated, and the gag reflex is suppressed by spraying a local anesthetic into the back of the throat. The transducer is then passed through the mouth and throat, and down the esophagus.
Once in position directly behind the heart, the transducer bounces sound waves off the heart (just as in the standard echocardiogram), and images of the cardiac structures are produced.
What are the advantages of TEE?
There are two major advantages of the TEE. First, TEE is useful in patients in whom adequate echo images cannot be obtained by the standard echo techniques (most often because their chest walls are particularly thick, or because they have emphysema.) Since the sound waves during TEE do not have to pass through the chest wall or the lungs, good echo images are obtainable in virtually all patients.Second, TEE can be performed in the operating room during open heart surgery. Intraoperative TEE is especially useful during valve reconstruction surgery. The echo image can give instant feedback to the surgeon as to the adequacy of the repair.
