Author(s)

Katherine Chaparro, Orozco David Mauricio, Abello Mauricio, Osorio Javier Enrique, Sarquis Tonny Alberto, Barrero David, Hincapie Myriam

Department of Anaesthesia, Fundación Clínica Shaio, Bogota, Colombia.

Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension is one of the few forms of pulmonary hypertension that can be cured surgically, being the pulmonary trhomboendarterectomy (PTE) the therapeutic approach of choice, with survival as high as 75% to 90% at 5 years. Our case report focuses on the intraoperative use on the transesophageal echocardiography, which has proven to be of outmost utility in PTE surgery. Two cases of pulmonary thromboendarterectomy are described, in which transesophageal echocardiography was the key factor in the intraoperative management, indicating the initiation time of nitric oxide in case number one and contraindicating the advancement of the pulmonary artery catheter in case number two, due to a mobile thrombus located in the right ventricular outflow tract.

Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension; Pulmonary Thromboendarterectomy; Intraoperative Echocardiography

Chaparro, K. , Mauricio, O. , Mauricio, A. , Enrique, O. , Alberto, S. , David, B. and Myriam, H. (2014) Utility of Intraoperative Transesophageal Echocardiography in Pulmonary Thromboendarterectomy. Open Journal of Anesthesiology, 4, 63-67. doi: 10.4236/ojanes.2014.43010.