Echocardiogram

• According to HeartSite.com, a standard echocardiogram uses sound waves to make images of your heart. Electrodes attached to your chest record electrical impulses from your heart during the study. A technician rolls an instrument called a transducer over your chest. The transducer sends sound waves through muscle and bone back to a computer, capturing pictures of heart valves opening and closing, chambers filling and emptying and walls contracting and relaxing. A cardiologist then studies the data.
  
  

Transesophageal Echocardiogram

• The standard echocardiogram is known as a transthoracic echocardiogram since the transducer travels across or through (trans) the chest (thorax). On the other hand, according to the American Heart Institute, a transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) uses a small transducer inserted through the mouth and down the throat to the esophagus (the tube that goes from the mouth to the stomach). In this case, the transducer is located at the tip of a flexible, thin instrument called an endoscope.
  
  

Reasons for TEE

• Lancaster General Health reports that, because the transducer eventually ends up behind the heart, the pictures are more distinct with TEE since the sound waves do not have to pass through so much skin, muscle or bone tissue. Obesity makes it harder to capture good images, possibly making TEE a better choice. If a patient has mitral valve disease, prosthetic valve, blood clots or other significant issues, a physician may choose TEE since it produces pictures that are more detailed.
  
  

Procedure

• According to HeartSite.com, the patient receives a sedative via an intravenous line to help her relax. Anesthetic spray numbs the throat. The patient lies on her left side and swallows the tube with the transducer, which goes down the esophagus like food. This part takes just a few seconds. Once the transducer has reached the appropriate position in the esophagus, the physician rotates and moves the transducer as necessary to view the heart from several angles. While swallowing the tube may be uncomfortable, you will not feel the transducer in the esophagus.
  
  

After the Procedure

• If you had the procedure as an outpatient, medical staff will monitor your vitals for a time before discharging you. Because of the sedative, arrange to have someone drive you home. Lancaster General advises patients not to eat or drink until the numbness in the throat has worn off. Be sure to alert the staff if you are not clear on instructions specific to your case before, during or after the test. The cardiologist will review your study and make recommendations regarding further management.