Intracardiac echocardiography has historically been used to guide a limited number of transcatheter cardiac interventions. However, the tremendous advances in structural heart disease interventions in the last decade led to a growing interest in intracardiac echocardiography as a potential alternative to transesophageal echocardiography that mitigates the need for endotracheal intubation. Nonetheless, the scarcity of data, the imperfection of the current probes, and the limited experience among operators prevented a wider adoption of this technology. This review summarizes the contemporary relevant evidence and provides the structural interventionalist with an illustrative guide on the use of intracardiac echocardiography to guide various structural heart interventions.
Keywords: atrial septal defect; intracardiac echocardiography; left atrial appendage closure; percutaneous intervention; structural heart disease; transcatheter aortic valve replacement.
Copyright © 2018 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.