3.2 Images obtained by the “FLAVOR” approach comparing with
those by TEE
The ”FLAVOR” approach clearly displayed the long-axis views of the
device at 4 angles in all cases in ICE group (Fig. 2). However, 18
(36%) cases in TEE group failed to show long-axis views including
short-axis view or unsatisfactory long-axis view (a view between
long-axis and short-axis) (Fig. 3) of the device at 1 of the 4 angles,
including 17 cases (34%) at 135°, 1 case (2%) at 0° (Table 2). Among
12 patients in whom both ICE and TEE were used during LAAC, TEE failed
to display long-axis views at 135° in 4 patients (Fig. 4). In 2 of the 4
cases,
significant
residual flow was detected by ICE instead of TEE (Supplementary movie
1).