During Adult Liv United States Practice Patterns in the Use of Transesophageal Echocardiography er Transplantation

Objective: To characterize contemporary practice patterns in the use of transesophageal echocardiography during adult liver transplantation and to identify factors preventing more frequent use. Design: Online questionnaire. Setting: Liver transplantation centers in the United States performing 12 or more adult liver transplants in 2011. Participants: One representative from each qualifying center: The transplant anesthesiology director, a transplant anesthesiologist personally known to the authors, or the department of anesthesiology chair. Interventions: Three e-mail attempts were made to solicit participation in the study between June and August 2012. Measurements and Main Results: Of the 97 institutions identified, an anesthesiologist from each of 79 (81.4%) centers completed the questionnaire; 38.0% of centers reported routine use and 57.0% for special circumstances or rescue situations, yielding an overall use rate of 94.9%. This distribution was consistent regardless of operative volume, practice size, or academic affiliation. The sole factor