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Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is currently the reference imaging method for patients with suspected infective endocarditis (IE). However, the procedure is semi-invasive; entails conscious sedation; and cannot be performed in patients with certain oropharyngeal, esophageal, or gastric conditions. With recent improvements in the resolution of computed tomography (CT) scanners, cardiac multislice CT might provide an alternative to TEE for visualizing valvular abnormalities in IE. Investigators in Europe recently compared the value of these methods for detecting such abnormalities.
Thirty-seven consecutive patients with clinically suspected IE underwent both TEE and CT imaging. Twenty-nine of these patients had definite IE and underwent…