Usefulness of live three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography in a congenital heart disease center.

Three-dimensional (3D) transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) has numerous potential applications in the care of patients with congenital heart disease (CHD). However, there were few data examining its utility in this setting. The aim was to describe the initial experience and feasibility of this modality at a tertiary CHD center. Twenty-seven 3D-TEE studies using the x7-2t live 3D matrix TEE transducer with an iE33 echocardiographic scanner (Philips Medical Systems, Bothell, Washington) were attempted. The utility of this method was examined in the 3 settings of interventional catheterizations (n = 16), intraoperative studies (n = 4), and diagnostic studies (n = 7). The probe was successfully inserted in 26 of 27 patients (weight 22.6 to 110 kg). In conclusion, the current matrix-array 3D-TEE probe was found to have a wide variety of clinical applications in a CHD center.