ABSTRACT
Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) was first introduced in 1976 as a mean to improve cardiac monitoring by providing “an airless pathway to the heart”.1 Advancement in transducer technology and the probe’s proximity to the heart inside the esophagus has combined to produce a low risk diagnostic examination. This makes real-time TEE cardiac monitoring very useful in the perioperative period, intensive care unit (ICU) and in the emergency department. Transesophageal echocardiography bypasses variable thicknesses of so tissue (i.e. in obese patients), bones, and lung parenchyma that may interfere with adequate transthoracic echocardiographic imaging (TTE). Transesophageal echocardiography availability is sometimes limited by the level of expertise necessary for image acquisition and interpretation, as well as the expense of the technology. This chapter will review patient evaluation, contraindications, complications, and imaging artifacts associated with TEE.
