AngioVac Procedures: Integration of cardiac surgeon and anesthesiologist-led transesophageal echocardiography: A preliminary report

The AngioVac system is a novel, minimally invasive, endovascular technique used to evacuate intravascular or intracardiac vegetation or thrombus. Although most AngioVac procedures are currently performed by interventionalists, this innovative procedure has been gaining attention among the surgical and anesthesia communities.

We retrospectively reviewed all patients who underwent the AngioVac procedure performed by a cardiac surgeon between August 2019 and December 2022. Fellowship-trained cardiac anesthesiologists operated TEE to navigate the AngioVac cannula during the procedure. The stored TEE images were retrospectively reviewed and independently analyzed by two cardiac anesthesiologists with specific focus on TEE-guided navigation of the AngioVac cannula towards the aspiration target.

Eleven patients underwent the AngioVac procedure during the study period. In nine cases, the majority of the vegetation or thrombus was successfully aspirated. In two cases, incomplete aspiration was attributed to the mass burden being too large, firm, and chronic in etiology. Worsening tricuspid regurgitation (TR) was identified in three of the 11 cases. Intraoperative TEE provided the cardiac surgeon with simultaneous display of the AngioVac cannula shaft, its tip, and aspiration target, as well as real-time assessment of TR, facilitating the minute movements essential for successful outcomes.

This study details our experience and the effectiveness of the AngioVac system for treating soft, intracardiac vegetation or thrombus in a minimally invasive manner. Experienced cardiac anesthesiologists have the skillsets and knowledge to provide optimal live TEE imaging necessary for successful maneuvering of the AngioVac cannula.