Background. The purpose of this study was to investigate the discrepancy between intraoperative transesophageal and postoperative transthoracic echocardiography in assessing residual regurgitation in children undergoing valve repair.
Methods. Forty-two consecutive children (median age, 5.1 years) who underwent valve repair for valvar regurgitation from 2001 to 2004 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into two groups: atrioventricular valve group (n = 33) and aortic valve group (n = 9). Regurgitation grade, fractional shortening, and atrioventricular inflow velocity obtained by intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography were compared with those obtained by transthoracic echocardiography at discharge (median, 11 days) and at follow-up (median, 8 months).
Results. Intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography revealed specific residual lesions in 4 patients, leading to successful re-repair. Fractional shortening obtained by intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography was lower than that obtained by predischarge transthoracic echocardiography (p < 0.01). In the atrioventricular valve group, the regurgitation grade obtained by intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography was lower than that obtained by predischarge transthoracic echocardiography (0.7 +/- 0.8 versus 1.4 +/- 0.9; p < 0.01), and agreement between the two examinations was found in 12 patients (38%). Peak atrioventricular inflow velocity obtained by intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography was lower than that obtained by predischarge transthoracic echocardiography (p < 0.01). In the aortic valve group, there was no significant difference between the regurgitation grades in the two examinations (0.8 +/- 0.8 versus 1.1 +/- 0.9), and complete agreement in regurgitation grade was found in 5 (56%) of 9 patients.
Conclusions. There were considerable discrepancies between the examinations in evaluation of residual atrioventricular valve regurgitation and potential atrioventricular valve stenosis: most of the residual regurgitations were underestimated by intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography. In contrast, reasonable agreement was found between the two examinations in evaluation of aortic valve regurgitation.