Live/Real Time Three‐Dimensional Transesophageal Echocardiographic Assessment of the Spinal Cord |
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| Authors: | Mustafa I Ahmed MD William A Crosland MD Gulay Gok MD Burcu Yuzbas MD Mostafa Elguindy MD Ahmed Hesham Esmat Ahmed MD Benjamin C Tuck MD Oluseun O Alli MD William S McMahon MD Navin C Nanda MD |
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| Institution: | 1. Division of Cardiovascular Disease, Department of Anesthesiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, , Birmingham, Alabama;2. Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Cardiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, , Birmingham, Alabama |
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| Abstract: | We present an adult patient in whom live/real time three‐dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (3DTEE) provided incremental value in the assessment of the spinal cord as compared to two‐dimensional transesophageal echocardiographic (2DTEE) findings published in the literature. It improved accurate identification and assessment of the anterior radiculomedullary spinal arteries which may have an important clinical application in monitoring for spinal cord ischemia during thoracic aortic surgery. Because the spinal cord and spinal canal could be examined using not only transverse but also coronal (frontal), sagittal, and oblique planes, 3DTEE further allowed for three‐dimensional measurements of the dimensions and volumetric analysis of the visualized spinal cord and spinal canal. These may have implications in the assessment of spinal cord edema due to trauma and other conditions which result in increase in the size and volume of the spinal cord. |
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| Keywords: | three‐dimensional echocardiography three‐dimensional transesophageal echocardiography echocardiography spinal cord spinal cord ischemia |
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