European Journal of Echocardiography Advance Access published online on May 1, 2008
European Journal of Echocardiography, doi:10.1093/ejechocard/jen142
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Fragment reconstruction of coronary arteries using transesophageal echocardiography for coronary diagnostics
1 Department of Medicine II, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Langenbeckstr. 27, 55101 Mainz, Germany
2 Department of Anesthesiology, Ruprecht-Karls University Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
3 Department of Medicine III, Eberhard-Karls-University Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
4 Department of Health and Medicine Services, Dubai, UAE
5 Department of Medicine III, Klinikum Herford, Herford, Germany
Received 25 November 2007; accepted after revision 23 March 2008.
* Corresponding author. Tel: +49 6131177163; fax: +49 6131173403.E-mail address: wild{at}2-med.klinik.uni-mainz.de
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Abstract |
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Aims: Ultrasound differs procedurally from the established methods for non-invasive coronary visualization and is therefore an interesting alternative for non-invasive diagnostics. In this study, fragment reconstruction of coronary arteries by transesophageal echocardiography (FRC-TEE) was investigated for the first time in a patient population being evaluated for coronary angiography.
Methods and results: Ultrasonic and angiographic findings were compared visually and using quantitative measurements in 50 patients. One hundred and seventy-one vessels were examined by FRC-TEE. The total lengths visualized were 9.6 ± 1.7 cm for the right coronary artery, 7.0 ± 1.1 cm for left circumflex, 3.9 ± 1.2 cm for left anterior descending (LAD), and 1.5 ± 0.8 cm for the left main coronary artery. There was high concordance between results of both procedures. Sixty-three stenoses were detected using FRC-TEE. The mean difference in degree of stenosis between techniques was 0.2 ± 5.1%. Stents could be visualized in 19 segments. FRC-TEE detected distal stenoses of the coronary arteries to only a limited extent: 14 stenoses and 2 stents, predominantly in the LAD artery (n = 13), were not identified.
Conclusions: FRC-TEE is a potential method for diagnosing coronary artery disease. FRC-TEE and angiography yield comparable findings during the evaluation of coronary lesions. Further investigations are needed to verify the encouraging findings and define FRC-TEE's applications.
Keywords: Transesophageal echocardiography; Coronary artery; Coronary artery disease; Non-invasive visualization; Coronary diagnostics
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