Transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) is a kind of echocardiography, which uses high-frequency sound waves to take moving pictures of the heart’s structures, valves, and the arteries leading to and from it. In this test, you’ll lie on a table while your doctor guides a flexible tube down your throat and into your esophagus. The transducer on the end of the tube creates images of your heart for 10 to 15 minutes. You’ll be given medication to calm you and numb your throat, but you may have a sore throat for a day or two. You can go home the same day as the procedure.
