TEE examination
Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is a special form of echocardiography, an ultrasound examination in which an endoscope with a built-in transducer is inserted into the esophagus. Due to the close proximity to the heart, the good coupling of the transducer to the moist mucous membranes and the absence of the skin as a possible barrier, one gets a very high spatial resolution by sonography from the esophagus. In particular, structures of the atria and the heart valves can be assessed much better with transesophageal sonography than with echocardiography from the outside.