Echocardiographic Equipment and Study Protocols
Transthoracic echocardiography was performed on all patients with use of
the Vivid 7 system (GE-Vingmed Ultrasound AS, Horten, Norway), iE33
ultrasound system (Philips Medical Systems, Bothell, WA).
Transesophageal echocardiography was performed with the use of iE33
ultrasound system (Philips Medical Systems, Bothell, WA). All patients
were examined by routine 2-dimensional echocardiography. Color Doppler
imaging was used to assess the occurrence of perforation and evaluate
the function of the atrioventricular or semilunar valves.