ABSTRACT
Other chapters in this book describe the echocardiographic approach and views for all of the aspects of MitraClip® edge-toedge repair. In this chapter, the goal is to more clearly describe the imaging approach from the point of view of an interventionalist and the early lessons learned at our institution which helped facilitate this unique collaboration. In the earliest procedures utilizing this novel technology, it was not clear which modality would be best. We, and others, initially tried transthoracic (TTE), transesophageal (TEE), and intracardiac (ICE) echocardiography. We quickly discovered that more was not always better and that the use of multiple imaging modalities added to procedure time without improving the results. We ultimately learned to rely on a small number of standard TEE imaging planes.
