Wound Healing and Cosmetic Outcome
Key Practice Points ▪ All lacerations produce scars. ▪ The function of a scar is to repair a wound with collagen, not to restore the original appearance of the injured…
Anatomy of Wound Repair
Key Practice Points ▪ The most important layer of skin for wound closure is the tough dermis. It is the “anchor” for sutures. ▪ Proper and careful apposition of the…
Adult Congenital Heart Disease
Congenital heart disease (CHD) is common, occurring—if bicuspid aortic valve (AV) is excluded—in approximately 1% of all live births. The most common defects and the incidence of each are outlined…
Transthoracic Echocardiography Standard Views
In the ICU, transthoracic imaging is usually the first echocardiographic imaging modality performed and may yield sufficient clinical information without the need to proceed to TEE. TTE and TEE both…
Lung Ultrasound
Ultrasound waves are unable to penetrate aerated lung tissue. Historically, this has limited lung ultrasound almost exclusively to the evaluation of pleural effusions. More recently, the recognition that analysis of…
Prosthetic Valves
In the practice guidelines published in 1996 by the American Stroke Association and (SCA), the assessment of valve replacement surgery is a category II indication for transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) (TEE…
The Mitral Valve
The mitral valve (MV) is ideally suited to examination with transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) because it lies close to the esophagus and is separated from the transducer by the blood-filled left…
The Right Ventricle, Tricuspid Valve, and Pulmonary Valve
The importance of the right ventricle as a cause of perioperative morbidity is being increasingly recognized. Right ventricular (RV) failure is responsible for approximately one fifth of cases of circulatory…
Hemodynamic Instability in the Operating Room and the Intensive Care Unit
Hemodynamic instability encompasses hypotension, low or (pathologically) high cardiac output, and abnormal filling pressures. Assessing hemodynamic instability is one of the most important indications for echocardiography in the operating room…
The Thoracic Aorta
The examination of the thoracic aorta is an essential component of both routine and emergent echocardiographic examinations. The aorta and its major branches can be visualized with echocardiography using a…
