Left Atrial Thrombi Detected by Intraoperative Transesophageal Echocardiography after Weaning from Cardiopulmonary Bypass for Aortic Valve Replacement - A case report -

Intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) during cardiac surgery is an invaluable procedure, which aids hemodynamic management as well as surgical directions. TEE adds valuable information to the assessment of cardiac structures and in contrast to transthoracic echocardiography (TTE), due to its proximity to left atrium (LA), it is especially useful in detection of mass lesions in the LA. The following case describes a patient undergoing aortic valve replacement under cardiopulmonary bypass with low risk of thrombi formation and undetected thrombi in the LA appendage by preoperative TTE. These thrombi could be detected by intraoperative TEE and removed at the same operation, thus avoiding thromboembolic complication and second operation.