Transesophageal echocardiography continues to have a central role in the diagnosis of infective endocarditis and its sequelae. Recent technological advances offer the option of 3-dimensional imaging in the evaluation of patients with infective endocarditis. We present an illustrative case and review the literature regarding the potential advantages and limitations of 3-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography in the diagnosis of complicated infective endocarditis. A 51-year-old man, an intravenous drug user who had undergone bioprosthetic aortic valve replacement 5 months earlier, presented with prosthetic valve endocarditis. Preoperative transesophageal echocardiography with 3D rendition revealed a large abscess involving the mitral aortic intervalvular fibrosa, together with a mycotic aneurysm that had ruptured into the left atrium, resulting in a left ventricle-to-left atrium fistula. Threedimensional transesophageal echocardiography enabled superior preoperative anatomic delineation and surgical planning. We conclude that 3-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography can be a useful adjunct to traditional 2-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography as a tool in the diagnosis of infective endocarditis.
CITATION STYLE
Yong, M. S., Saxena, P., Killu, A. M., Coffey, S., Burkhart, H. M., Wan, S. H., & Malouf, J. F. (2015). The preoperative evaluation of infective endocarditis: Via 3-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography. Texas Heart Institute Journal, 42(4), 372–376. https://doi.org/10.14503/THIJ-14-4375
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