With the development of surgical technology and the need of clinical, transesophageal echocardiography is more and more favored by clinicians. Although the transesophageal echocardiography has developed more than 20 years, yet it has not been widely used in operation at present in domestic. In addition, its application in surgery of children is more rare. It has been confirmed that intraoperative use of transesophageal echocardiography has good safety and wide range of application. We will summarize indications, complications, and the progress of the current technology from the scope of transesophageal echocardiography in pediatric surgery.
Echocardiography is an important imaging technique in transcatheter edge-to-edge mithal valve repair (TEER). During the operation, mitral leaflets capture and clamping have the highest requirements for ultrasound image quality and should be performed under the guidance of high-quality commissural view. However, standard commissural view cannot be obtained in some patients due to cardiac enlargement, transposition or limited esophageal acoustic window. In this condition, the optimal view can be obtained by Multivue technology. This paper reports a case of successful mitral valve TEER under the real-time guidance of Multivue technology, and summarizes the key points of this technology.
Objective To analyze the echocardiographic characteristics of above grade 3+ mitral regurgitation (MR) patients by 3D transesophageal echocardiography (3D-TEE) in transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) and compare the intervention rate of TEER treatment in patients with different risk stratification. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 91 patients with above grade 3+ MR in Anzhen Hospital between June 2021 and April 2022. There were 45 males and 46 females aged 66.5±15.9 years. According to pathogenesis, the patients were divided into different anatomical groups and risk stratification groups. There were 34 patients in a simple degenerative group (simple DMR group), 28 patietns in a complex disease group (Complex group), 14 patients in a simple ventricular functional reflux group (simple VFMR group), 9 patients in a simple atrial functional reflux group (simple AFMR group), and 6 patients in a mixed functional reflux group (mixed FMR group). All patients were examined with a unified standard of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and 3D-TEE to compare the characteristic three-dimensional structural changes of the mitral valve in each group. According to the three partition strategy of preoperative anatomical evaluation of TEER, the risk stratification was conducted for the enrolled patients, which was divided into three regions from light to heavy: green area, yellow area, and red area. TEER treatment intervention rate of patients with different risk stratification was calculated. Results Ant leaf angle and post leaf angle were negative in the simple DMR and Complex groups, and non-planar angle, prolapse height and prolapse volume were higher than those of the other groups (P=0.000). Ant leaf angle and post leaf angle were positive in the VFMR group and the mixed FMR group. Anterior and posterior (AP) diameter of valve ring (P=0.036), tenting height and tenting volume were higher than those of other groups (P=0.000). AP diameter, tenting height and tenting volume were changed mildly in patients with simple AFMR. MR patients in red and yellow zone achieved a 28.1% TEER intervention rate.Conclusion Standardized TTE and TEE examinations are crucial for the qualitative and quantitative diagnosis of MR in the echo core-lab. 3D-TEE mitral valve parameter can help determine the exact pathogenesis of MR and to improve the interventional rate of challenging MR patients.
Aortic stenosis accounts for a large proportion of valvular heart disease in China. This article described an unusual case of severe aortic stenosis with severe cardiopulmonary decompensation treated by emergency transcatheter aortic valve replacement. Preoperative assessment was performed by transesophageal echocardiography. The extracorporeal membrane oxygenation team was informed to be ready. During the operation, no obvious perivalve leakage was observed after valve released. The transvalvular pressure gradient decreased to 7 mm Hg (1 mm Hg=0.133 kPa).The patient’s symptoms were completely relieved after the operation, and no adverse events occurred during the hospitalization. After discharge, color Doppler echocardiography showed that stenosis was eliminated, cardiac function was improved, no significant perivalvular leakage was observed, and pulmonary hypertension reduced to moderate. The success of this operation confirmed the efficacy of emergency transcatheter aortic valve replacement, and showed that after a rigorous evaluation, emergency transcatheter aortic valve replacement may be a reasonable choice for patients with severe aortic valve stenosis.
We reported a 65-year-old female who was admitted to our institute with "recurrent subxiphoid pain accompanied by dyspnea for more than 10 days". Electrocardiogram examination suggested acute extensive anterior ST segment elevation myocardial infarction. Preoperative transthoracic echocardiography suggested ventricular septal rupture. The patient was planned for the repair of ventricular septal rupture with cardiopulmonary bypass. The formation of left ventricular aneurysm was diagnosed by intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). The surgeon decided to abdopt the modified incision of left ventricular approach guided by TEE, which greatly improved the prognosis of the patient. The surgery duration was 197 min, aortic cross-clamping time was 56 min, cardiopulmonary bypass time was 69 min, and the patient was safely admitted to ICU after the surgery. Extubation was performed on the first day postoperatively, and the intra-aortic balloon pump support was retreated on the second day postoperatively. Postoperative echocardiography showed that no obvious residual shunt was observed after ventricular septal repairment and ventricular aneurysm resection. The patient was discharged on the 12th day after the surgery. Additionally, the mental condition was good and daily activities were not limited within 6 months postoperatively.
目的总结左胸骨旁小切口微创封堵分流方向偏向流出道的室间隔缺损（VSD）的初步经验。 方法2014年2～8月广州医科大学附属第一医院对15例分流方向偏向流出道的VSD患者施行左胸骨旁小切口微创封堵手术，其中男7例，女8例；年龄10个月～19岁（4.5±4.6）岁；体重5.5～54.0（14.6±14.1）kg；其中干下型6例，嵴内型6例，膜周部型3例；缺损直径2.5～6.5（4.0±1.2）mm，距主动脉瓣环距离≤1 mm 9例，≤2 mm4例，>2 mm 2例；合并主动脉瓣右冠瓣轻度脱垂5例；采用左胸骨旁第2或第3肋间1.5～2.5 cm切口，在经食管超声心动图（TEE）监视下在右心室流出道表面选择适当的穿刺点，建立VSD输送轨道并置入封堵器，观察有无残余分流、主动脉瓣反流；术后3个月复查经胸超声心动图。 结果15例均成功封堵，无中转开胸，无残余分流和心律失常，新发主动脉瓣轻微反流2例，围手术期输血1例；手术时间30～120（58±28）min，术中出血量5～200（26±50）ml；术后住院时间3～13（4.3±2.6）d，无二次开胸止血、Ⅲ°房室传导阻滞、主动脉瓣反流加重、溶血、切口感染等并发症；术后3个月返院复查经胸超声心动图13例，无新发主动脉瓣反流和封堵器脱落；2例术中新发主动脉瓣反流加重，其中1例出现残余分流。 结论左胸骨旁小切口封堵分流方向偏向流出道VSD 手术安全、切口小、操作简单，近期效果尚满意；对合并主动脉瓣轻度脱垂VSD 需慎重施行外科微创封堵手术。
In recent years, transesophageal echocardiography has a trend toward miniaturization, so it has great clinical significance and broad clinical application prospect in the management of Cardiac Surgery ICU patient. This paper presents the characteristics of miniaturized transesophageal echocardiography and its clinical application. And we also focused on the contrast between miniaturized transesophageal echocardiography and standard transesophageal echocardiography and transthoracic echocardiography.
ObjectiveTo investigate clinical outcomes and safety of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE)-guided occlusion of infundibular ventricular septal defect (VSD) via minithoracotomy. MethodsClinical data of 21 pediatric patients with infundibular VSD who underwent TEE-guided occlusion via minithoracotomy in Children's Hospital of Hebei Province from January to June 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 10 male and 11 female patients with their age of 8-24 (16±8) months and body weight of 9±3 kg. The size of VSD was 4.5±2.5 mm. TEE was used to evaluate the position of the occluder, its influence on the atrioventricular valves and aortic valve, and the presence of residual shunt. ResultsThere was no perioperative death or complication. VSD occlusion was successfully performed in 20 out of 21 patients (95.2%). One patient received conversion to open VSD repair under extracorporeal circulation because VSD size was too big. Mean time of delivery of occluders was 32±16 minutes, the size of the occluders was 5±3 mm, and length of hospital stay was 6-8 days. All the patients were followed up for 3-6 months after discharge. During follow-up, echocardiography showed clear echo and normal position of the occluders, and there was no mild or more severe residual shunt or valvular regurgitation. ConclusionTEE-guided occlusion of infundibular VSD via minithoracotomy is easy to perform and safe with satisfactory clinical outcomes.
ObjectTo evaluate the feasibility of measuring the descending aortic blood flow using transesophageal ultrasound Doppler under cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). MethodWe retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 10 adult patients accepted elective cardiac surgery under CPB in March 2014 year. There were 4 males and 6 females with a mean age of 44.5±12.3 years ranging from 24.5-64.0 years. The descending aorta diameter and velocity time integral (VTI) of blood flow of middle esophageal and lower esophageal of these patients were detected by transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) under CPB. We took the formula of classic ultrasound texting the blood flow to calculate the descending aorta blood flow (DABF). At the same time, we recorded the data of CPB and index of hemodynamics. Compared with the flow of CPB pump, we analyzed the correlation between pump flow and the raliability of DABF texting value under CPB. ResultsTwo patients quit the trail for blurred imaging. The quality of blood flow spectrum images aquirded from the middle esophageal were inferior to those from the lower esophageal (P < 0.01) in the 10 patients. Among the patients 90% of DABF from the middle esophageal and 50% of DABF from the lower esophageal were more than pump flow. however, the texting value had an excellence correlation to PF (r=0.795, r=0.825). ConclusionThe classical TEE technique can not obtain accurate blood flow during CPB.