Objective To explore the clinic value of sedated transesophageal echocardiography（TEE）in evaluatingthe safety

patient comfort and efficacy

compared to conventional TEE.MethodsOne hundred and sixteen patients examinedby conventional TEE（conventional TEE group）and 80 patients examined by sedated TEE（sedated TEE group）were included.Data including heart rate

blood pressure

oxygen saturation change

success rate of one-time intubation

examination time

complications

image satisfaction

and the level of discomfort of visual analogue scale（VAS）were recorded.The results of the twogroups were compared and statistically analyzed.ResultsIn the conventional TEE group

the heart rate and blood pressuresincreased significantly during examination（all P<0.05）

which were reduced after examination but still slightly higher thanthose before examination（all P<0.05）.In the sedated TEE group

the heart rate

systolic and diastolic blood pressures duringexamination were reduced compared with baseline pressures（all P<0.05）. However

there were no significant increase of theheart rate and blood pressures after examination. The success rate of one-time intubation in the sedated TEE group wassignificantly higher than that of the conventional TEE group（87.5% vs. 75.9%

P<0.05）

the examination time was significantlylonger than that of the conventional TEE group[（13.2±4.4）min vs.（5.3±2.0）min

P<0.05].10 cases（12.5%）in the conventionalgroup had nausea

vomiting and sore throat

which were significantly less than those in the sedated TEE group（32 cases

27.6%）

the difference was statistically significant（P<0.05）.98.8% cases in the sedated TEE group had satisfactory images

while only65.5% image quality satisfaction in the conventional TEE group（P<0.05）.The VAS score in sedated TEE group was significantlydecreased compared with the conventional TEE group（0.4 ± 0.8 vs. 3.3 ± 1.7

P<0.01）. And the number of patients willing toaccept the TEE examination in future in the sedated group was significantly higher than that of the conventional TEE group（92.5% vs. 51.7%

P<0.01）.ConclusionSedated TEE is a safe and efficient examination.Compared with the conventionalTEE

it is suitable for patients with more serious conditions. It can provide patients with a more comfortable examinationexperience

which is beneficial to obtaining comprehensive and high-quality image data.