Available online 26 September 2022

Despite many recent advances in three-dimensional (3D) transesophageal (TEE) imagining, the process of orienting 3D TEE images is nonintuitive and uses assumptions based on idealized anatomy. Correlating two-dimensional (2D) TEE cross-sectional images to 3D reconstructions remains an additional challenge. Here, we suggest the repurposing of the stitching artifact generated in 2-beat ECG-gated 3D TEE as a means of exactly orienting 3D images within a patient’s unique anatomy. In this article, we demonstrate this application of this strategy to assess a normal mitral valve (MV), to localize scallops of mitral valve prolapse and to visualize typical left atrial appendage 2D cuts in a 3D space. By taking command of stitching artifacts, cardiac imagers can successfully navigate the complex structures of the heart for optimal, individualized echocardiographic views.

2022 Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the American Society of Echocardiography.