Transesophageal color Doppler echocardiography during mechanical assist circulation

Information available to determine the optimal timing for separation of patients (pts) from mechanical assist circulation (MAC) is usually limited, due to the difficulty of transfer of patients with heavy MAC systems. To evaluate the clinical efficacy of transesophageal color Doppler echocardiography (TEE) in management of patients during MAC, we examined 37 pts (32, intra-aortic balloon pumping = IABP; 4, left ventricular assist device = LVAD; 1, right VAD = RVAD) by TEE. In the other 3 pts, thoracic aneurysms (AN) (2, dissecting An; 1, true AN) were detected by TEE, which were contraindications to safe introduction of IABPs. In 29 pts on IABPs, 2 pts with LVADs, and in 1 pt with a RVAD, patients were safely weaned from MACs with confirmation of full recovery of cardiac function by TEE. However, repeat introduction of IABP support was needed in 2 pts due to severe residual mitral regurgitation, even after initial success; these became the cause of late multiple organ failure. In one pt with a LVAD, a detrimental right to left shunt through the patent foramen ovale, which resulted in severe desaturation of the arterial blood oxygenation, was detected by TEE. Left main coronary flow was measured by TEE and found to increase by 55% on IABP and by 67% on a LVAD. In conclusion, TEE is the only currently available diagnostic tool for total evaluation of cardiac function in an intensive care unit, which can provide very important information for management of patients on MACs.