Patients routinely undergo transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) prior to pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) in order to rule out the presence of intra-atrial thrombi. Cardiac computed tomography (CCT) is also routinely conducted prior to the procedure to determine cardiac anatomy. Although it has been demonstrated that CCT can also rule out intra-atrial thrombi, the use of CCT for thrombi detection is controversial. The primary objective was to determine the utility of CCT for detection of atrial thrombi as compared to TEE.Patients who underwent PVI between 2010 and 2011 with CTs and TEEs complet-ed within 3 days of each other were retrospectively identified. TEE reports were analyzed, while CCTs were interpreted by a cardiologist specializing in CCTs. Severe spontaneous echo contrast or thrombus detected on TEE were considered positive, as were filling defects found on CCT.A total of 51 patients undergoing PVI (mean age 59.4 ± 9.5 years; 75

作者：Sohaib, Munir；Justues H, Chang；Shafeequr R, Salahudeen；Adrian, Baranchuk；Cheryl, Morris；Michael, O'Reilly；Raveen S, Pal

来源：Cardiology journal 2015 年 22卷 5期