Perioperative Echocardiography
Visiting Preceptorship

About the Course

Presented by the UC San Diego Department of Anesthesiology and Division of Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology this four-day preceptorship includes the following highlights:

• In-OR observership in the new cutting edge Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center
• Intimate small group setting highlighting a personal level of education
• Hands-on learning with state-of-the-art TTE and TEE simulator
• Simulation, didactic and interactive sessions
• Intraoperative decision making with UCSD Anesthesia faculty
• Problem based learning and hemodynamic calculation workshops

This course is designed for physicians seeking echocardiography proficiency. It will cover the applications of transesophageal echocardiography in the monitoring and diagnosis of cardiac disease in the perioperative patient. Lectures will emphasize image acquisition, probe manipulation, recognition of normal cardiac anatomy, evaluation of cardiac pathology, and other echocardiography essentials.

Courses offered quarterly, limited space available.

Registration

Objectives

At the conclusion of this activity, the participants should be able to:

• Identify specific indications and contraindications to transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in both cardiac and non-cardiac anesthesiology, including particular uses in assisting invasive line placement, hemodynamic instability, and myocardial and valvular assessments.
• Demonstrate safe probe insertion techniques, manipulation and image acquisition of a standard approach to a comprehensive 28 view TEE exam.
• Examine the concepts of the Doppler principle, their application to Pulsed Wave, Continuous Wave, Color Flow and tissue Doppler imaging and their use in hemodynamic calculations, valvular and ventricular assessments.
• Review pathologic cardiac states and their echocardiographic representations including qualitative and quantitative assessments. Potential pathologic states include but are not limited to mitral valve, aortic valve, tricuspid valve, left and right ventricular systolic and diastolic as well as aortic diseases.
• Evaluate the use of limited transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) FoCUS exam in the perioperative arena.

Needs Assessment

Echocardiography has become an essential tool within both cardiac and non-cardiac anesthesiology, requiring specific education training for successful utilization. Recently updated guidelines have indicated that TEE should be utilized in all open heart and thoracic aortic surgery as well as during any episodes of unexplained hemodynamic instability in non-cardiac surgery. The guidelines suggest that TEE may be utilized in coronary artery bypass grafting procedures, catheter based cardiac procedures, in critically ill patients, and in at-risk patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery. Therefore it is suggested that both cardiac and non-cardiac anesthesiologists be familiar and proficient with perioperative echocardiography for the monitoring and potential diagnosis of cardiac disease states.

This educational program attempts to provide anesthesiologists the opportunity to improve their skills and knowledge of perioperative echocardiography inclusive of image acquisition, probe manipulation, hemodynamic calculation, valvular and ventricular assessment and diagnosis.