Safety and Effectiveness of Transthoracic Echocardiography and Transesophageal Echocardiography in the Interventional Closure of Atrial Septal Defects in Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objective: Through this meta-analysis, a systematic review was conducted on the effects of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in the interventional closure of atrial septal defects (ASDs) in children. Methods: We searched papers in the PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, CNKI, Wanfang, Embase, and VIP databases. The search time limit was from the establishment of the database to May 2023. Randomized controlled trials on the effect of TTE and TEE in the interventional closure of ASD in children were screened. The included results were integrated and analyzed, and ReviewManager 5.4 was used for the meta-analysis. Results: Six studies with a total of 253 patients with ASD were included in this meta-analysis. Results showed that the surgical success rate in each study was more than 90%, with no difference between TEE and TTE (p = 0.11; risk ratio (RR) = 0.96, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.89 to 1.04). The surgery time of TTE was significantly shorter than that of TEE (standard mean difference (SMD) = –1.52, 95% CI: –2.30 to –0.74). The fluoroscopy time of TTE was shorter than that of TEE (SMD = –0.69, 95% CI: –1.08 to –0.30). We found no significant difference in complication rates (RR = 0.36, 95% CI: 0.09 to 1.39). Conclusion: The combination of TTE and TEE is important during surgery, and postoperative complications are relatively small. The surgery time and fluoroscopy time of TTE are shorter than those of TEE.