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Transesophageal Echocardiographic Assessment of Coronary Stenosis: A Decade of Experience
Author(s) -
Biederman Robert W. W.,
Sorrell Vincent L.,
Nanda Navin C.,
Voros Szilard,
Thakur Abhash C.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
echocardiography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1540-8175
pISSN - 0742-2822
DOI - 10.1046/j.1540-8175.2001.00049.x
Subject(s) - medicine , gold standard (test) , coronary arteries , radiology , stenosis , coronary angiography , cardiac catheterization , cardiology , magnetic resonance imaging , coronary artery disease , cardiac imaging , artery , myocardial infarction
Coronary artery imaging is routinely obtained invasively at cardiac catheterization through coronary angiography. This remains the gold standard, but with advances in ultrasound technology, electron beam computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging, newer noninvasive methodologies are achieving greater success at imaging the coronary anatomy. This review is meant to highlight the important accomplishments from transesophageal echocardiographic (TEE) investigations that have studied the coronary arteries. The specific technique for optimally imaging the coronaries with high frequency transducers, color and conventional Doppler, in addition to contrast‐enhanced methods, will be analyzed. Importantly, this article serves as a reminder to echocardiographers and cardiologists that excellent, clinically relevant information of the coronary arteries can be obtained routinely during TEE. This technique is part of the trend noted by the other authors in this special edition; that is, echocardiography is becoming the gold standard of the new millennium for many diagnostic areas, even coronary angiography.