ObjectiveTo share the experience of treating special cardiac malformations by applying minimally invasive techniques.MethodsEight children with special cardiac malformations admitted to our hospital from July 2014 to September 2020 were recruited, including 3 males and 5 females, aged 0.8-1.2 (1.1±0.4) years, and weighted 7.8-11.5 (9.6±2.9) kg. There were 2 patients of huge muscular ventricular septal defect (VSD), 3 perimembranous cribriform VSD, 1 right coronary-right atrial fistula, 1 right coronary-right ventricular fistula, and 1 young, low-weight child with large aortopulmonary. All were treated with minimally invasive techniques using transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) as a guiding tool. All children received intraoperative TEE immediately to evaluate the curative effect of the surgery, and all went to outpatient clinic for reexamination of echocardiography, electrocardiogram and chest X-ray after discharge.ResultsEight children underwent minimally invasive surgery successfully without any incision infection, intracardiac infection, arrhythmia or pericardial effusion. None of the 8 children were lost to follow-up, and the results of all reexaminations were satisfactory.ConclusionThe application of minimally invasive techniques is a bold and innovative attempt for the treatment of a few special types of cardiac malformations. It has significant advantages in reducing trauma and medical costs in some suitable patients, and has certain clinical reference values.
Echocardiography is an important imaging technique in mithal valve transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER). During the operation, mitral leaflets capture and clamping have the highest requirements for ultrasound image quality and should be performed under the guidance of high-quality commissural view. However, standard commissural view cannot be obtained in some patients due to cardiac enlargement, transposition or limited esophageal acoustic window. In this condition, the optimal view can be obtained by Multivue technology. This paper reports a male patient aged 67 years with successful mitral valve TEER under the real-time guidance of Multivue technology, and summarizes the key points of this technology.
ObjectiveTo investigate the effectiveness and safety of esophageal ultrasound-guided percutaneous femoral artery closure of ventricular septal defect (VSD).MethodsThe clinical data of 24 patients with congenital VSD in our hospital from March 2017 to December 2019 were retrospectively analyzed, including 6 males and 18 females, with a median age of 12 (3-42) years, weight of 32 (12-91) kg, and VSD diameter of 4 (3-7) mm. There were 3 patients with VSD combined with atrial septal defect.ResultsTwenty-four patients successfully underwent interventional closure of percutaneous femoral artery under esophageal ultrasound guidance, and the position and shape of the occluders were good. The operation time was 45 (39-54) min, and the waist size of the occluders was 7 (5-12) mm. Among the patients, 14 patients used symmetric ventricular occlusion devices, 8 patients used asymmetric ventricular occlusion devices, and 2 patients used ventricular occlusion muscle occluders. Small amount of residual shunt occurred in 2 patients after the operation and it disappeared 3 months after the operation. One patient with right bundle branch block, which disappeared after 1 week of observation. There were no complications such as occluder closure, pericardial effusion or valve regurgitation during the perioperative period. During the follow-up period [3-18 (9.25±5.04) months], no serious complication occurred.ConclusionTransesophageal ultrasound-guided transfemoral artery occlusion for VSD is simple and safe, and it avoids the damage of radiation and contrast medium. It has advantages over traditional percutaneous interventional occlusion therapy.
Objective To analyze the echocardiographic characteristics of above grade 3+ mitral regurgitation (MR) patients by 3D transesophageal echocardiography (3D-TEE) in transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) and compare the intervention rate of TEER treatment in patients with different risk stratification. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 91 patients with above grade 3+ MR in Anzhen Hospital between June 2021 and April 2022. There were 45 males and 46 females aged 66.5±15.9 years. According to pathogenesis, the patients were divided into different anatomical groups and risk stratification groups. There were 34 patients in a simple degenerative group (simple DMR group), 28 patietns in a complex disease group (Complex group), 14 patients in a simple ventricular functional reflux group (simple VFMR group), 9 patients in a simple atrial functional reflux group (simple AFMR group), and 6 patients in a mixed functional reflux group (mixed FMR group). All patients were examined with a unified standard of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and 3D-TEE to compare the characteristic three-dimensional structural changes of the mitral valve in each group. According to the three partition strategy of preoperative anatomical evaluation of TEER, the risk stratification was conducted for the enrolled patients, which was divided into three regions from light to heavy: green area, yellow area, and red area. TEER treatment intervention rate of patients with different risk stratification was calculated. Results Ant leaf angle and post leaf angle were negative in the simple DMR and Complex groups, and non-planar angle, prolapse height and prolapse volume were higher than those of the other groups (P=0.000). Ant leaf angle and post leaf angle were positive in the VFMR group and the mixed FMR group. Anterior and posterior (AP) diameter of valve ring (P=0.036), tenting height and tenting volume were higher than those of other groups (P=0.000). AP diameter, tenting height and tenting volume were changed mildly in patients with simple AFMR. MR patients in red and yellow zone achieved a 28.1% TEER intervention rate.Conclusion Standardized TTE and TEE examinations are crucial for the qualitative and quantitative diagnosis of MR in the echo core-lab. 3D-TEE mitral valve parameter can help determine the exact pathogenesis of MR and to improve the interventional rate of challenging MR patients.
ObjectiveTo investigate clinical outcomes and safety of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE)-guided occlusion of infundibular ventricular septal defect (VSD) via minithoracotomy. MethodsClinical data of 21 pediatric patients with infundibular VSD who underwent TEE-guided occlusion via minithoracotomy in Children's Hospital of Hebei Province from January to June 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 10 male and 11 female patients with their age of 8-24 (16±8) months and body weight of 9±3 kg. The size of VSD was 4.5±2.5 mm. TEE was used to evaluate the position of the occluder, its influence on the atrioventricular valves and aortic valve, and the presence of residual shunt. ResultsThere was no perioperative death or complication. VSD occlusion was successfully performed in 20 out of 21 patients (95.2%). One patient received conversion to open VSD repair under extracorporeal circulation because VSD size was too big. Mean time of delivery of occluders was 32±16 minutes, the size of the occluders was 5±3 mm, and length of hospital stay was 6-8 days. All the patients were followed up for 3-6 months after discharge. During follow-up, echocardiography showed clear echo and normal position of the occluders, and there was no mild or more severe residual shunt or valvular regurgitation. ConclusionTEE-guided occlusion of infundibular VSD via minithoracotomy is easy to perform and safe with satisfactory clinical outcomes.
目的探讨在经食管超声心动图（TEE）引导下经胸封堵室间隔缺损（VSD）的临床经验。 方法回顾性分析2013年7月至2014年7月高州市人民医院23例先天性心脏病患儿的临床资料，其中男9例、女14例，年龄4个月至1岁。胸骨下段小切口暴露右心室前壁，在TEE引导和实时监测下，穿刺右心室前壁，建立轨道，通过短输送装置直接将封堵器安放在VSD部位。 结果23例患者全都封堵成功，置入封堵器直径6～10 mm，术后5～11 d出院，随访3～24个月，无残余分流、主动脉瓣反流以及心律失常等并发症。 结论TEE引导下经胸微创封堵婴儿室间隔缺损是一种简单安全的治疗方法。
ObjectiveTo explore the safety and efficacy of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE)-guided percutaneous intervention for patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) in obese teenagers.MethodsFrom January 2018 to June 2019, 21 obese teenagers with PDA treated with femoral artery occlusion guided by TEE in the Department of Cardiac Surgery, Dalian Children's Hospital of Dalian Medical University were included in this study, including 13 males and 8 females aged 12.8-17.3 (15.1±1.7) years, with an average weight of 51.0-89.0 (73.4±10.1) kg. The operative effect was evaluated. ResultsAll patients successfully received the surgery, and none was changed to radiation-guided or thoracotomy ligation. The average operating time was 23.9±6.8 min, the average postoperative hospitalization time was 3.8±0.6 d. No peripheral vascular injury, intracardiac infection or pericardial effusion occurred. The mean follow-up time was 19.5±4.9 months, and the results of all reexaminations were good.ConclusionFor some PDA children with obesity, emphysema or thoracic malformation, it is difficult to block PDA by transthoracic ultrasound-guided percutaneous intervention, and TEE can avoid the interference of chest wall and lung qi, or other factors. It is an effective supplementary guidance method worthy of promotion.
In recent years, transesophageal echocardiography has a trend toward miniaturization, so it has great clinical significance and broad clinical application prospect in the management of Cardiac Surgery ICU patient. This paper presents the characteristics of miniaturized transesophageal echocardiography and its clinical application. And we also focused on the contrast between miniaturized transesophageal echocardiography and standard transesophageal echocardiography and transthoracic echocardiography.
ObjectTo evaluate the feasibility of measuring the descending aortic blood flow using transesophageal ultrasound Doppler under cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). MethodWe retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 10 adult patients accepted elective cardiac surgery under CPB in March 2014 year. There were 4 males and 6 females with a mean age of 44.5±12.3 years ranging from 24.5-64.0 years. The descending aorta diameter and velocity time integral (VTI) of blood flow of middle esophageal and lower esophageal of these patients were detected by transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) under CPB. We took the formula of classic ultrasound texting the blood flow to calculate the descending aorta blood flow (DABF). At the same time, we recorded the data of CPB and index of hemodynamics. Compared with the flow of CPB pump, we analyzed the correlation between pump flow and the raliability of DABF texting value under CPB. ResultsTwo patients quit the trail for blurred imaging. The quality of blood flow spectrum images aquirded from the middle esophageal were inferior to those from the lower esophageal (P < 0.01) in the 10 patients. Among the patients 90% of DABF from the middle esophageal and 50% of DABF from the lower esophageal were more than pump flow. however, the texting value had an excellence correlation to PF (r=0.795, r=0.825). ConclusionThe classical TEE technique can not obtain accurate blood flow during CPB.