The utility of transesophageal echocardiography and Doppler color flow imaging in patients undergoing cardiac valve surgery.

To assess the value of intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography during cardiac valve surgery, 154 consecutive patients who had a valve operation in conjunction with pre- and postcardiopulmonary bypass transesophageal imaging were studied. Prebypass imaging yielded unsuspected findings that either assisted or changed the planned operation in 29 (19%) of the 154 patients. Imaging immediately after bypass revealed unsatisfactory operative results that necessitated immediate further surgery in 10 (6%) of the 154 patients. Postbypass left ventricular dysfunction, prompting administration of inotropic agents, was identified in 13 patients (8%). Transesophageal echocardiography proved most useful when both two-dimensional and Doppler color flow imaging were employed in patients undergoing a mitral valve operation, where surgical decisions based on echocardiographic results were made in 26 (41%) of 64 cases. Postbypass echocardiographic findings identified patients at risk for an adverse postoperative outcome. Of 123 patients whose postbypass valve function was judged to be satisfactory, 18 (15%) had a major postoperative complication and 6 (5%) died, whereas of 7 patients with moderate residual valve dysfunction, 6 (86%) had a postoperative complication and 3 (43%) died (p less than 0.05 for both). Likewise, of 131 patients with preserved postbypass left ventricular function, 12 (9%) had a major complication and 7 (5%) died, whereas of 23 patients with reduced ventricular function, 17 (73%) had a postoperative complication and 6 (26%) died (p less than 0.05 for both). These data indicate that intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography is useful in formulating the surgical plan, assessing immediate operative results and identifying patients with unsatisfactory results who are at increased risk for postoperative complications.