Screening the thoracic aorta for atheroma: a comparison of manual palpation, transesophageal and epiaortic ultrasonography.

Abstract

Accurate detection of atheroma within the thoracic aorta is an important part of most stroke prevention strategies in cardiac surgery. The thoracic aorta was divided into six zones corresponding to sites of surgical manipulation. Zones 1-3, proximal, mid and distal ascending aorta, zones 4-5, proximal and distal arch and zone 6, proximal descending aorta. This study compares the accuracy of atheroma detection by manual palpation, epiaortic (EPI) and transesophageal (TEE) ultrasonography in 70 patients. Results: Using EPI as the reference method for zones 1-4, 14/70 patients were identified with moderate or severe atheroma. The frequency of atheroma was age related with the youngest at 55 yea..