Clinical reasoning for performance of transesophageal echocardiography in veterans with bacteremia.

This study examined physicians' reasoning about obtaining transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in cases of bacteremia (SAB). In 221 cases of SAB over 5 years, the most common reasons for not performing TEE were clinical response to antibiotics, negative TTE results, and the expectation that TEE would not change management.