The nurse calls a patient 2 days before an outpatient procedure to discuss preprocedure preparation. The procedure is being done to track the progression of the patient's valvular disease. Which testing is likely scheduled?

Question

1. Chest x-ray
2. An electrocardiogram
3. Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE)
4. Cardiac catheterization

Answer 1

3
Rationale 1: A chest x-ray does not require preprocedure preparation and is not likely to give much information about the progression of valvular disease.
Rationale 2: Electrocardiograms do not require preprocedure preparation and are not likely to give much information about the progression of valvular disease.
Rationale 3: TEE is particularly useful for tracking the progression of valvular disease. The patient does have to be NPO for this test.
Rationale 4: While cardiac catheterization may provide some information about heart function, it is an invasive test. Another, less invasive test is more likely to be performed.