DETECTION OF RIGHT PULMONARY-ARTERY THROMBOEMBOLUS BY TRANSESOPHAGEALECHOCARDIOGRAPHY - A CASE-REPORT

We describe the case of a 73-year-old man, admitted after several days of moderate dyspnea, followed by syncope, Transesophageal echocardiog raphy (TEE) clearly demonstrated a high resolution image indicating th romboembolus of the proximal right main pulmonary artery, The patient' s clinical conditions were moderately impaired; treatment with heparin followed by warfarin was started, At 15 and 30 days intervals, TEE mo nitoring was performed, showing an incomplete but evident dissolution of the pulmonary thromboembolism, associated with an improvement in cl inical ECG and scintigraphic parameters, Our TEE observations, in acco rdance with the few comparable observations reported in the Literature , showed a clear direct visualization with highly conclusive diagnosti c possibilities for pulmonary thromboembolism; a successful resolution was confirmed by repeated TEE studies.