TEE is a semi-invasive technique used to assess left heart cavities with better resolution and angles than conventional TTE, specially when studying valvulopathies, interventricular communications or atrial masses. It is also used in interventional cardiology catheterizations (for example to close an interatrial communication with an amplatzer device) and cardiac surgery (to assess any residual injury in the final result or to monitor left ventricle function throughout the procedure) since the probe can be placed inside the esophagus for the whole time without disturbing.
