ABSTRACT

The proximity of the transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) probe in the esophagus

allows far superior imaging of the heart valves, in general, than transthoracic

echocardiography (TTE). Hence, the echocardiographer can make easy assessments of

both structure and function of all four heart valves. In this chapter, perioperative TEE of

the heart valves is discussed. For each valve, there is a discussion of normal anatomy,

standard TEE images, valvular stenosis, and regurgitation.