Transoesophageal echocardiography in cardiac anaesthesia.

The use of transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE) has increased in the last 20 years and TOE is now a standard perioperative monitoring tool used for patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Because of the close proximity of the oesophagus to the heart, TOE facilitates the acquisition of high-resolution images. The TOE probe is a multiplane transducer. This means that the image planes can be rotated from 0 to 180 degrees, enabling three-dimensional assessment of the structure of interest. Intraoperative TOE has been shown to improve outcome in a variety of cardiac surgeries. TOE findings assist in the planning, execution and evaluation of surgery. TOE has a substantial impact on surgical decision-making. Intraoperative TOE modifies the planned surgical operation in 15% of cardiac surgical procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]