Faculty Bibliography

OBJECTIVES. The purpose of this study was to prospectively evaluate the risk of vascular events in patients with protruding aortic atheromas. BACKGROUND. Protruding atheromas of the thoracic aorta have been shown to be associated with embolic disease in previous retrospective studies. METHODS. During a 1-year period, 521 patients had transesophageal echocardiography. Of these, 42 patients had protruding atheromas and no other source of emboli. They were followed up for up to 2 years (mean follow-up 14 months) and compared with a control group without atheromas, matched for age, gender and hypertension. RESULTS. Of 42 patients with atheromas, 14 (33%) had 19 vascular events during follow-up (5 brain, 2 eye, 4 kidney, 1 bowel, 7 lower extremity). Of 42 control patients, 3 (7%) had vascular events (2 brain, 1 eye). Univariate analysis identified only protruding atheromas as significantly correlating with events (p = 0.003). There was no positive correlation of events with age, gender, hypertension, smoking, family history, atrial fibrillation, valve replacement, antithrombotic drug use, diabetes or coronary disease. Multivariate analysis showed that only protruding atheromas independently predicted events (p = 0.005, odds ratio 4.3, 95% confidence interval 1.2 to 15.0). Nine patients died in the atheroma group versus six in the control group, but this was not statistically significant (p = 0.39). CONCLUSIONS. Protruding atheromas seen on transesophageal echocardiography predict future vascular events

Transvaginal tubal catheterization procedures have been suggested as an alternative to microsurgery and in-vitro fertilization (IVF) in the treatment of women with proximal tubal occlusion. A transcervical balloon tuboplasty (TBT) catheter was specifically developed and tested in a prospective multicentre trial. A total of 151 women with confirmed bilateral or unilateral tubal occlusion were studied. The primary study population included 106 women who, after exclusion of patients for protocol violations, represented those females who were treated for complete tubal occlusion with TBT. TBT is an ambulatory, minimally invasive catheter procedure, performed under paracervical block or mild sedation, which utilizes a co-axial balloon catheter under fluoroscopic guidance. Re-canalization, pregnancy and reocclusion rates following the procedure were documented. A total of 28 patients demonstrating uni- or bilateral tubal patency after either hysterosalpingography and/or selective salpingography represented the control population. TBT established tubal patency of at least one Fallopian tube in 95/106 patients (90%) and in 167/205 obstructed oviducts (82%). Clinical pregnancies occurred in 37/106 females (35%), with a life table adjusted rate of 37%. Patients without distal disease had significantly higher pregnancy rates than those with bipolar tubal disease (49% versus 12%, life table adjusted rate; P = 0.0002) but pregnancy rates were independent of underlying aetiology for tubal disease. Pregnancy rates in control patients who did not reach TBT because of tubal patency after hysterosalpingography and/or selective salpingography were significantly lower than in those successful treated with TBT (P = 0.027), and occurred only for four cycles after hysterosalpingography and with approximately a 1 year delay after selective salpingography.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Aortic dissection is a rare but devastating complication of cardiopulmonary bypass. Intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography can be a useful technique to define the anatomy of the dissection, to evaluate its extension and progression, and to detect the presence of aortic insufficiency. We describe two cases in which transesophageal echocardiography helped in making a rapid diagnosis of aortic dissection during cardiac surgery and demonstrate how it may play a role in therapeutic decision making

Ligation of the left atrial appendage during mitral valve surgery is routinely performed to decrease the incidence of future thromboembolic events. Complete obliteration of the appendage cavity is the surgical aim, but this has been difficult to verify by objective means. In this paper, we report 2 cases of incomplete left atrial appendage ligation detected incidentally by transesophageal echocardiography and speculate on the clinical relevance of this finding

Protruding atheromas of the aortic arch identified by transesophageal echocardiography have been implicated as a cause of stroke in elderly patients. One hundred thirty patients greater than or equal to 65 years of age were studied with intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography to detect aortic arch protruding atheromas and determine if these patients were at higher risk for perioperative stroke. Protruding atheromas were identified in 23 (18%) of 130 patients. In 19 (83%) of these 23 patients, palpation of the aortic arch at operation did not identify significant abnormalities. Five patients (4%) had perioperative stroke. Logistic regression identified aortic arch atheroma as the only historical or procedural variable that was predictive of stroke (odds ratio 5.8, 95% confidence interval 1.2 to 27.9, p less than 0.03). A history of peripheral or cerebrovascular disease, presence of aortic calcification, cardiac risk factors, age and duration of cardiopulmonary bypass did not predict stroke. In contrast, patients with protruding atheromas with mobile components were at highest risk. There were 3 (25%) of 12 patients with a mobile atheroma who had a stroke versus 2 (2%) of 118 patients without a mobile atheroma (chi-square = 10.3, p = 0.001). Displacement and detachment of the frail, protruding atherosclerotic material by aortic arch cannulation or by the high pressure jet emanating from the cannula tip may play an important role in the creation of embolization and stroke

The intraaortic balloon pump has been shown to decrease myocardial oxygen demand by afterload reduction, while increasing myocardial oxygen supply by diastolic augmentation of coronary blood flow. This diastolic augmentation of coronary flow has been demonstrated experimentally with invasive methods. Noninvasively, transesophageal echocardiography has demonstrated efficacy in enabling visualization of the proximal left coronary artery and in recording coronary blood flow velocity. To assess the potential of this technique in demonstrating quantitatively the increase in coronary flow during counterpulsation, 6 patients were studied during intermittent balloon pumping. Peak diastolic coronary blood flow velocity increased by a mean of 117% (range 62 to 287) during balloon inflation (p = 0.002). Furthermore, coronary flow velocity integral increased by a mean of 87% (range 43 to 176; p = 0.003). Problems associated with intraaortic balloon pumping were discovered by transesophageal echocardiography in 4 patients (incorrect balloon placement, damage to the aortic wall [2 patients], and premature balloon deflation time). Transesophageal echocardiography can be used in evaluating intraaortic balloon positioning within the aorta and in monitoring coronary artery flow augmentation during counterpulsation. This relatively noninvasive technique adds another dimension to the evaluation of balloon function and may help in optimizing the benefits of counterpulsation