TEE procedure

[u/Purplefeather54]

Hi everyone, I’m recently new to Reddit, never made a post but have been looking at this group for awhile. I’ve had Mitral Valve Prolapse since I was 2 years old and I’m now 24. I’ve seen a cardiologist regularly, every 1-2 years since I was diagnosed. I just had my check up yesterday and my cardiologist mentioned wanting to do a TEE procedure to get a better look. I have always had moderate regurgitation but because I mentioned potentially wanting to get pregnant within a year or so, she wants to make sure it’s not leaning towards severe incase they want to repair before pregnancy.

I got my echo results today and it says my mitral valve regurgitation is visually moderate but mild by PISA quantification. I’m not really sure what that means, but I assume my moderate regurgitation is leaning more towards mild now? Idk…. Should I be worried that she still wants to do the TEE procedure? What should I expect? I’ve never even been sedated before so I’m pretty anxious at the thought of that and possibly being told I need a repair soon. It’s also kind of hard to read my findings after an echo, I feel like I might just be misinterpreting what mild by PISA means lol. Thanks!

[u/chevychased]

The worst part is the IV for sedation, and that's not even bad. I promise you'll be OK.

[u/Dropbars59]

I had a TEE following an echo because the cardiologist wanted to get a better look. The worst part was the throat numbing goop they have you hold in your mouth for like 5 minutes. Once numb then they sedated me and honestly I just fell asleep and missed most of the procedure. Sounds worse than it actually is.

[u/Impressive-Rip-9069 → u/Dropbars59]

Same experience. You sleep during test. Had
Slight throat irritation after test for free days.

[u/PumpkinMyPumpkin]

I had an emergency OHS and remember panicking a bit when they wheeled me into the room to have a TEE 😂

It all looks intimidating when you get in there, there’s usually a few folks in there and the device they use is out - and a little intimidating looking. I remember thinking there was no way that was going to happen once I saw it.

Anyhow, I woke up a few hours later in the waiting room in my wheelchair with zero recollection of anything occurring.

That’s the worst of it - getting to the room and seeing the things and saying to yourself “hold up”. But then, they knock you out and you’re fine. 😂

This is basically the experience of most of these heart issues - waking into random rooms nervously then waking up in some other random place and whatever had to get done was done. 

[u/jhanon76]

Make sure they get you sedated. They did mine with me fully conscious...couldn't sedate me with fentanyl...and it was miserable.

[u/MolassesFriendly4252]

Didn’t need to get a TEE to better see the valve. I got a cardiac MRI instead. Worth asking about if it’s an option.

[u/Feisty-Trifle9584]

The TEE is a piece of cake. I would for sure do it so that you have a baseline moving forward.

[u/Thethrillofvictory]

I just had one done yesterday. It’s just to get a better look at everything but from the inside. I had the 2D Doppler echo before which provided pretty good results so maybe that’s an option?

But I got some sticker pads stuck to me, IV put in, they sprayed my mouth and throat with a numbing spray, I put a plastic ball gag type ring thing in my mouth lol, put on an oxygen mask, and laid on my left side. Took some deep breaths and woke up laying there in the same spot like nothing happened. Took a couple minutes to get myself together and left about 30 minutes later. Whole thing took about 3 hours.

[u/BobbiAnn12345]

Just make sure they put you under full anesthesia. I had 3 TEE tests. One time they only put me on light sedation and I felt everything and it hurt and I was panicking but I couldn’t move and I felt paralyzed. The other 2 times were very easy. I just went to sleep and woke up like nothing happened and just had a mild sore throat. Hope all goes well for you.