Transesophageal echocardiography in the diagnosis of ostial left coronary artery stenosis

The diagnosis of ostial stenosis of the left main coronary artery is usually made by use of coronary angiography. However, positioning of the catheter across the obstruction may obscure this diagnosis during contrast injection. Although a damping of arterial pressure when the catheter enters the lef...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of the American Society of Echocardiography Vol. 3; no. 5; p. 367
Main Authors Schrem, S S, Tunick, P A, Slater, J, Kronzon, I
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.09.1990
Subjects
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Coronary Angiography
Coronary Disease - diagnostic imaging
Coronary Vessels - diagnostic imaging
Echocardiography - methods
Echocardiography, Doppler
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
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Summary:The diagnosis of ostial stenosis of the left main coronary artery is usually made by use of coronary angiography. However, positioning of the catheter across the obstruction may obscure this diagnosis during contrast injection. Although a damping of arterial pressure when the catheter enters the left coronary artery may suggest ostial stenosis, it may not be possible to make this diagnosis with certainty during cardiac catheterization. We report a series of four patients in whom the left coronary ostium and proximal left coronary arteries were visualized by means of transesophageal echocardiography. Both ostial narrowing by plaque and abnormally fast flow velocities were seen. In each case the echocardiographic findings contributed to the subsequent management of the patients.
ISSN:0894-7317
DOI:10.1016/S0894-7317(14)80136-3