Eb. Wu et al., THE ROLE OF TRANSESOPHAGEAL ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC-RENAL-FAILURE AT LOW AND HIGH-RISK OF ENDOCARDITIS, Journal of heart valve disease, 6(3), 1997, pp. 249-252
Background and aims of the study: The benefits of transesophageal echo
cardiography (TEE) may depend on the clinical likelihood of infective
endocarditis, but little data exist on patients at low risk. Methods a
nd Results: We studied 32 patients with renal failure with either a lo
w (n = 21) or high (n = 11) level of clinical suspicion for infective
endocarditis. In the low-risk cases, TEE provided no new information w
hether the transthoracic echo was normal or abnormal, although it did
confirm that an echogenic mass was more likely to be a calcific deposi
t than a vegetation. In the high-risk cases, transthoracic echocardiog
raphy was always abnormal but TEE added new information in seven out o
f 11 cases - positively in six, and by exclusion in one. TEE detected
signs of complications of infective endocarditis in one case. Conclusi
ons: We conclude that, when the clinical suspicion of endocarditis is
low, TEE is rarely necessary.