tRANSTHORACIC VERSUS JRANSESOPHAGEAL ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY IN CONGENIAL HEART DISEASES IN PEDIATRIC PATIENTS

Abstract

Twenty-nine patients with congenital heart disease were subjected to the use of transesophageal echocardiography as a diagnostic tool to be compared with transthoracic echocardiograpby for the same patients, in outpatient, intraoperative, and cardiac catheterization settings. This was done in the pediatric cardiology unit, in the Children's

hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University.

All patients were subjected to thorough history taking, clinical examination, plain x-ray, ECG, and transthoracic echocardiography. All patients were subjected to transesophageal echocardiography in the ECHO laboratory and intraoperative in the operating theater. The TEE probe was a biplane one, ( 14 mm width). During cardiac catheterization, the TEE probe was a multiplane probe (14 mm width). Male to female ratio was 1.38.

Mean age of patients was 6.55+/-2.87 . Mean weight of patients was 20.8+/-7. 7 . Out patients TEE procedures was completed by using pre• medication anaesthesia in the form of ketamine IM then, IV, under monitoring of the vital signs including HR, respiratory rate, & oxygen saturation. lntraoperative TEE probe insertion was done while the patient is under general anaesthesia & tracheally intubated The study included non cyanotic (72.49%)& cyanotic CHO (27.5%) with a variety of heart lesions. Out patients cases comprised 59% of the study population while intraoperative cases accounted for 24%. TEE in the catbeterization lab. was perfonned for 14% of all cases. ICU TEE constituted 3%.