| incidence of bacteremia in transesophageal echocardiography: a prospective study of 140 consecutive patients. | the incidence of bacteremia related to transesophageal echocardiography was studied in 140 consecutive patients (71 women and 69 men with a mean age of 53.7 +/- 15 years). thirty-four patients had one or more prosthetic heart valves. blood cultures were obtained from each patient through separate venipuncture sites immediately before and after transesophageal echocardiography. an additional late blood culture was obtained in 114 patients 1 h later. the skin was cleaned with povidone-iodine and v ... | 1991 | 1960310 |