Assessment of endocarditis and intracardiac masses by TEE

TEE is of great value in the diagnosis and management of IE and is the procedure of choice for the preoperative evaluation and intraoperative management of intracardiac masses. In IE, TEE imaging is more sensitive and specific than the TTE approach and those at high risk for endocarditis or its complications in particular should undergo early TEE. A repeated examination is indicated if endocarditis persists or if the clinical picture changes in the setting of initially negative echocardiographic study. Serial studies may be required to guide management. TEE also has superior specificity and sensitivity for diagnosing cardiac tumors compared with TTE. TEE adds new or important clinical information beyond that provided from TTE in patients with LA thrombi, RA mass, and extracardiac lesions and has influenced the management of these patients.