This is another question too the one I posted last week, thanks to the people that answered. My 21 year old daughter is going for a TEE test in early Nov. They have already detected a little hardening of her aeortic artery. With this test what exactly are they looking for and with the hardening of the artery can this be treated with medicine. I tried to talk to her doctor but I couldnt understand what she was saying. Also has anyone had this test and what did they find and how was it treated afterwards. I would appreciate any advice from anyone who has been through this. Thanks!!!!
2007-10-11 06:27:58 · 2 answers · asked by paul s 4 in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Heart Diseases
A Trans-Esophageal Echocardiogram is sorta like a regular echo, except the probe is much smaller and is positioned inside the esophagus, right next to the heart to give it a much clearer picture. She will probably get a shot into an IV to make her sleepy while the procedure is being done.
Wiki has a pretty good description:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echocardiogram
Ralph
2007-10-11 07:40:49 · answer #1 · answered by ralphrepo_01 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Ralph is correct.
They may be looking to see if one or more of her heart valves are regurgating, and not pumping the blood through effectively and causing a backflow.
They also may want to have a closer look at the Aortic artery to make sure they're happy that it's just calcified. And to what extent it is, if that's the case.
They also do TEE (We call them TOE's in Australia) to see if there are any blood clots, or vegetations sitting in any of the heart chambers, or growing on any of the valves.
The procedure itself can take anywhere between 15-60 mins. The patient is heavily sedated, and it's a relatively untraumatic experience.
2007-10-16 04:53:48 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋