Echocardiography

Transeosophageal echocardiography (TEE) is a core skill of cardiac anesthesiologists. TEE is the most comprehensive tool for the evaluation of cardiac and hemodynamic function perioperatively but is also essential for preoperative planning and post-procedural assessment and to identify complications. Accordingly, in the Department of Cardiac Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine of the German Heart Center Berlin, all attending physicians and the majority of specialists are certified by the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI) or respectively the European Association of Cardiothoracic Anesthesia and Intensive Care (EACTAIC) accreditation in TEE. There are also numerous other certifications e. g. from the German Society for Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine (DGAI) and the US National Board of Echocardiography (NBE).

Our operating rooms and recovery units are equipped with the most up to date echo technology to support 3D echocardiography with the highest frame rate and comprehensive online analyses of valvular and biventricular function. Our hybrid operating room is also equipped with the latest fusion technology for visual overlay display of real-time radiography and TEE imaging. We have a comprehensive selection of probes for pediatric patients, facilitating intraoperative echo diagnostics in all age-groups of patients.

Our department offers a custom-made Fellowship Program to train the requisite skills and qualifications of both cardiac critical care and the DGAI recommendations for cardiac anesthesiology with a specific focus on EACVI / EACTAIC echo certification. We organize regular echo courses for the DGAI PTFE modules 1-4 and we are a certified DGAI center for training in perioperative TEE.

In all non-pediatric cardiac surgical areas, including the hybrid rooms and the PACU, echocardiographic imaging is the exclusive responsibility of the Department of Cardiac Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine. This includes support for all interventional procedures such as MitraClip, TriClip, TAVI, Bioventrix LIVE, Tendyne, PASCAL, valve-in-valve procedures and closure of paravalvular leaks. For pediatric cardiac surgery, echocardiographic services are provided in partnership with colleagues from the Department of Congenital Heart Disease – Pediatric Cardiology.

In 2020, the Department of Cardiac Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine performed and analyzed over 3800 echocardiographic examinations. As a highly specialized cardiac surgery center, we have the unique capability to offer our trainees and fellows high-quality 1:1 bedside teaching, with a focus on perioperative echocardiography and incomparable exposure to this diagnostic tool.