Transesophageal Echocardiography in Clinical Practice

Over the last 30 years the technological advances in TEE have been exponential and have been reflected by its increasing utilization. Currently almost all echocardiography labs undertake TEE and the vast majority of valve operations are performed with TEE guidance. When imaging a patient's heart the number of modalities available to choose from seems to be ever increasing and the clinician needs to be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of each modality in order to best answer the question posed. Those in cardiac imaging know that the spatial and temporal resolution of the modality is unsurpassed and that it is relatively easy to get good images with minimal training. The purpose of this book is thus to give practical guidance to those undertaking training in the art of TEE. It is not an exhaustive text to be used for reference but one that should be used in conjunction with hands-on experience. If used correctly it will help in realizing the true potential of TEE.