Transesophageal Echocardiographic Approach to a Patient with Suspected Pulmonary Hypertension in the Intraoperative Period

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) defined by a mean pulmonary artery pressure (MPAP) >25 mm Hg at rest is confirmed by right heart catheterization (RHC). With the rapid development of surgical methods and cardiopulmonary bypass strategies, many children and adults are undergoing surgical correction for their cardiac pathologies. Presence of PH in these patients contributes to a major morbidity and poses a great challenge for the operative team during its surgical and postoperative management. With the universal use of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in almost all cardiac surgeries, the etiology, severity of PH, and its effect on cardiac structures and function can be evaluated in patients suspected of having PH. Since there is no established algorithm for the intraoperative TEE evaluation of such patients, we proposed an algorithm for the evaluation of PH in patients suspected of having raised pulmonary pressure using TEE in the intraoperative period. How to cite this article Kumar MG, Puri GD. Transesophageal Echocardiographic Approach to a Patient with Suspected Pulmonary Hypertension in the Intraoperative Period. J Perioper Echocardiogr 2017;5(2):49-63.