Perioperative use of the oesophageal Doppler probe (ODM II) on a patient scheduled for transmyocardial revascularization.

We describe the use of the continuous wave oesophageal Doppler monitor (ODM II) in the perioperative management of a patient with chronic obstructive coronary artery disease undergoing transmyocardial revascularization (TMR). The use of ODM II allowed both quantitative and qualitative assessment of cardiac function relatively noninvasively. It detected the successful transmyocardial penetration of a laser beam during operation by visual and auditory phenomena in addition to reflecting improvement in cardiac performance after operation.