A survey of hospital-based echocardiography laboratories in California, Oregon, and Washington was conducted to determine the level of sonographer involvement in transesophageal echocardiographic examinations. For the 113 sites included in the study, the levels of involvement were ranked in the following descending order: preparation and cleanup for the procedure (94%), manipulation of the ultrasound controls (94%), explanation of the procedure to the patient (58%), manipulation of the probe (13%), and insertion of the probe (2%). Sonographer education and registry was also studied to determine whether it was related to level of involvement, but no correlation was found.
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