[Clinical applications of transesophageal echocardiography]

Standard transthoracic ultrasound examination of the heart has provided increasingly better images since it was clinically introduced approximately 25 years ago. Although two-dimensional echocardiography is an established tool in clinical cardiology, the image qualities of conventional transthoracic approaches are sometimes unsatisfactory for various reasons, such as obesity, chronic obstructive lung disease, and changes with age in the chest wall. In these patients, transesophageal echocardiography can provide important diagnostic information because chest wall interference and intrathoracic attenuation are eliminated. Furthermore, the close vicinity of the heart and thoracic aorta to the transducer allows the use of higher frequency, near-focused focused transducer, which produces better resolution and improved signal to noise ratio. In this brief review, We discuss the diagnostic possibilities and clinical advantages of transesophageal echocardiography based on its application in more than 1,500 awake patients since 1977 in our department.