[Alternative Views of Transesophageal Echocardiography in the Assessment of Aorta Structure]

To investigate the imaging views and scanning procedure of the aorta using the transesophageal echocardiography (TEE).

In accordance with the established TEE scanning process, 337 patients had their aortas scanned on four different levels, including upper, middle, lower segment of esophagus and gastric base. All parameters such as the depth of probe, imaging angle were recorded.

A total of 330 cases of patients completed the procedure, the other 7 cases experienced the failure of TEE probe placement. Five patients received the new acoustic window for TEE imaging of large vessels anterior to the trachea by using a saline-filled endotracheal balloon, for the main structures anterior to the trachea were poorly visualized. The average time-consuming of the scanning was (15.6 ± 3.8) min. Depth of the probe, imaging angle and the aortic wall changed with the changing of imaging views.

It is important to be familiar with the aorta anatomy and TEE imaging features for the purpose of overcoming the difficult in the assessment of aorta on TEE imaging.