[Assessment of cardiac functions in patients for coronary artery bypass graft using transesophageal echocardiography before and after cardiopulmonary bypass].

We evaluated cardiac functions in 7 patients for elective coronary artery bypass graft surgery before and after cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) using transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). There was no significant difference in the ratio of end-systolic meridional wall stress (ESS) and end-systolic area (ESA), which is a good indicator of cardiac contractility, before and after CPB period. However, left ventricular stroke work index (LVSWI) decreased after CPB compared to that before CPB. There was a positive correlation between the ESS/ESA ratio after induction of anesthesia and left ventricular ejection fraction at the pre-operative study. As the ESS/ESA ratio represents cardiac contractility and the ESS is a reliable indicator of afterload, we thought it possible to assess cardiac contractility and precise afterload by using TEE during perioperative period.