transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), an endoscopic/ultrasound test that provides ultrasonic imaging of the heart from a retrocardiac vantage point, thus preventing the interposed subcutaneous tissue, bony thorax, and lungs from interfering with the ultrasound. It is performed to better visualize the mitral valve or atrial septum, to differentiate intracardiac from extracardiac masses and tumors, to diagnose thoracic aortic dissection, to detect valvular vegetation as seen with endocarditis, to determine cardiac sources of arterial embolism, to detect coronary artery disease, and to monitor high-risk patients for ischemia intraoperatively.
