Eric Kawana, Vladislav Pavlovich Zhitny, Luzviminda Alexander, Kyaw Min Tun, Omar Al-Taweel, Chowdhury Ahsan, and Aditi Singh (all Medicine) published an article, "Cardiac Anesthesia Intraoperative Interpretation Accuracy of Transesophageal Echocardiograms: A Review of the Current Literature and Meta-Analysis," in the National Library of Medicine.
In the U.S., echocardiography is vital in cardiac care. This study compared cardiac anesthesiologists' transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) skills with primary echocardiographers. Analyzing 9 studies from 1952-2022, results show cardiac anesthesiologists interpret TEEs similarly to primary echocardiographers, with an 84% concordance rate. Compared to radiologists (83%) and cardiologists (79-87%), their proficiency is notable. While no gold standard exists for TEE accuracy, further assessments, such as double-blind studies, could enhance evaluation methods.
