John M. Erikson, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of medicine in the division of cardiology, this summer briefed colleagues in Russia about cutting-edge cardiac catheterization lab applications for an existing technology called transesophageal echocardiography (TEE).
The two-day conference in Moscow featured three American speakers, including Dr. Erikson, and two Russian speakers. Dr. Erikson discussed the role of TEE in evaluating congenital heart disease, applications of TEE in the operating room, and the role of TEE in interventional procedures in the cath lab. He also gave presentations of interesting cases.
In a regular echo test, a transducer is placed on the chest to beam ultrasound waves through the chest wall and lungs to the heart. In some cases, weight and other factors require that the transducer be placed in the esophagus or food pipe. The esophagus is situated behind the heart and therefore provides a clearer sound image of what is happening.
“TEE has been around for 30 years and is the standard of care in virtually every hospital in the U.S.,” Dr. Erikson said. “The cath lab applications, however, are relatively new and cutting edge, and were all taken from cases I have done at the Health Science Center in San Antonio.”
Dr. Erikson traveled to the city of Tyumen in Siberia. The city, in an oil-rich area of Asia, is 1,500 miles east of Moscow and just north of Kazakhstan. “It is 12 time zones from San Antonio,” Dr. Erikson said. “This was the first opportunity to have an ultrasound conference like this in Siberia, and it attracted physicians from more than 20 cities, some 10 hours away.”
The conference, which was organized by the International Society of Cardiovascular Ultrasound, honored Dr. Lee Frazin of Northwestern University. Dr. Erikson and Dr. Robert Siegel of UCLA also spoke, along with Russian cardiologist counterparts.
“We honored Dr. Frazin, who years ago was the first to have the idea to put a probe in the esophagus to examine heart structures,” Dr. Erikson said.
Nowadays, Dr. Erikson and others are using echo-catheters situated inside the heart to view procedures. Echo-catheters are threaded to the heart from an incision in the groin. “Using this new echo technology, we are able to close holes in the septum in 20 minutes,” Dr. Erikson said. “That required opening the chest before.”
A Moscow newspaper ran a prominent article on the conference.
“The Russian physicians’ thirst for knowledge was incredible,” Dr. Erikson said. “They were extremely glad to see us. They wanted to learn everything we could teach them.”
