Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1994 Jun;89(6):2684-7.
doi: 10.1161/01.cir.89.6.2684.

Usefulness of transesophageal echocardiography for diagnosis of infected transvenous permanent pacemakers

I Vilacosta  1 , C Sarriá, J A San Román, J Jiménez, J A Castillo, E Iturralde, M J Rollán, L Martínez Elbal
Affiliations

Usefulness of transesophageal echocardiography for diagnosis of infected transvenous permanent pacemakers

I Vilacosta et al. Circulation. 1994 Jun.

Abstract

Background: Transesophageal echocardiography is superior to transthoracic echocardiography in detecting left-sided valvular vegetations. There are no data on the value of transesophageal echocardiography in the diagnosis of infected transvenous permanent pacemakers.

Methods and results: Transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography was performed in 10 patients for whom there was clinical suspicion of infected permanent transvenous pacemakers. Transthoracic echocardiography detected pacemaker lead vegetations in 2 patients, whereas transesophageal echocardiography visualized pacemaker lead vegetations in 7 patients. Surgical confirmation was obtained in 6 of these 7 patients. Most patients had more than one pacemaker electrode in place. Local complications at the generator pocket were present in 6 patients. Staphylococcus was the predominant causative organism.

Conclusions: Transesophageal echocardiography is superior to transthoracic echocardiography in the detection of pacemaker lead vegetations.

PubMed Disclaimer

LinkOut - more resources