Transthoracic Echocardiographic Assessment of Proximal Coronary Arteries

Abstract

The patient is a 55-year-old woman status post two mitral clips with a severely dilated left atrium and persistent severe mitral regurgitation. During a follow-up, an attempt was made to examine the proximal coronary arteries by two-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography 1-3 ( ► Videos 1-4). Videos 1-4The left main (LMC), proximal left anterior descending (LAD), and left circumflex (CX) coronary arteries are well seen in B-mode (►Videos 1, 2) and with color Doppler (►Video 3). No significant stenosis is noted in the visualized vessels in B-mode. Color Doppler signals are also laminar with no flow aliasing or turbulence consistent with no obstruction. ►Video 4 shows normal right coronary artery (RCA) orifice viewed using the right parasternal examination approach in the same patient. AO, aorta; LA, left atrium; PR, pulmonary regurgitation; PV, pulmonary valve; RAA, right atrial appendage. Online content including video sequences viewable at: www.thieme-connect.com/ ejournals/html