Transesophagealechocardiography (TEE)

TEE shows:

• Your heart's size and the thickness of its walls
• How well your heart is pumping
• If there is abnormal tissue surrounding your heart valves
• If blood is leaking backward through your heart valves
• If you heart valves are narrowed or blocked
• If there are any blood clots in your heart's chambers

During the test, you lie on a table and a technician sprays your throat with a medicine to numb it and relax your gag reflex. A nurse puts an intravenous line (IV) in your arm and a mild sedative to help calm you.

You wear small patches (electrodes) on your chest attached to an electrocardiogram (EKG) monitor which measures your heart's electrical activity during the test. A sonographer measures your resting heart rate and blood pressure, called a resting EKG.

Your doctor guides a thin, flexible tube (probe) through your mouth to your esophagus with a transducer on the end that sends sound waves to your heart and collects the echoes that bounce back. These translate into pictures on a video screen.

The test usually lasts between 30 and 60 minutes. You may have a mild sore throat for one to two days after you have the test.

Your doctor will talk with you about the results and answer any questions you may have.