Spinal cord imaging by transesophageal echocardiography: a new modality of monitoring.

A 45-year-old patient with known history of Aortic arch aneurysm presented in the emergency ward with features of rupture of the aneurysm into the left lung with compressive signs in the pulmonary parenchyma. Diagnosis was confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging. The patient underwent repair of thoracic aortic aneurysm with left upper lobectomy under general anesthesia and cardio-pulmonary bypass support. Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) was used for an intraoperative monitoring. While imaging the thoracic aorta with TEE was underway, we accidentally visualized an image that was confirmed to be the spinal cord. So, in this article we discuss how the spinal cord monitoring can be made possible with TEE.