A retrospective experience of right atrial and superior vena caval thrombi diagnosed by transesophageal echocardiography.

Central venous catheter (CVC) thrombosis and infection has become a frequent finding in immunosuppressed and chronically ill medical patients, particularly those with end-stage renal disease. Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), as the only reliable noninvasive method of imaging the superior vena cava (SVC) is appreciated to be very useful in the evaluation of these lesions. We retrospectively review our findings of TEE for this purpose, with regard to frequency of positive findings, patient characteristics, and microbiologic findings from SVC and right atrial thrombi and vegetations associated with CVCs.