ABSTRACT
A number of medical societies have produced guidelines for the training of perioperative echocardiography over recent years, with revisions to accommodate current clinical and educational practice. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) was the subject of initial practice guidelines, but this was soon followed by transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) practice guidelines published in 1996 by the American Society of Anesthesiologists and the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists (ASA/SCA),1 then further revised in 20102
and 2013.3 Canadian guidelines for perioperative echocardiography training, published in 2005 by the Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) and the Canadian Society of Echocardiography (CSE), described a training path for TEE that required an advanced level of TTE proficiency before permitting independent TEE practice.4 While applicable to cardiology trainees, this was deemed to be impractical for anesthesiologists performing intraoperative TEE. This led to the development in 2006 of Canadian guidelines by the Cardiovascular Section of the Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society and the CSE that were specific to intraoperative TEE practice.5 Revised CCS/CSE guidelines, published in 2010, reflect the increased use of echocardiography as a powerful tool in a growing number of specialties.6 This chapter reviews current guidelines for training in echocardiography and the educational options to acquire the necessary knowledge and technical skills.
