title: Contrast echocardiography: an update.
abstract: Despite the advent of tissue harmonic imaging, echocardiography fails to produce diagnostically useful images in a significant proportion of patients. This often leads to inaccurate assessment of left ventricular function, necessitating the use of other, more expensive and laborious imaging techniques, purely for diagnostic purposes. This has facilitated the development of microbubbles, which together with ultrasound, produce opacification of the left ventricular cavity, thus enabling clear visualization and accurate quantification of left ventricular function. Contrast agents have also facilitated the development of myocardial contrast echocardiography. This allows assessment of cardiac anatomy, function, and perfusion, all in one sitting, by the bedside. Contrast ultrasound imaging also has now been applied to newer techniques (eg, real-time three-dimensional echocardiography) and is also showing promise in other cardiovascular scans (eg, carotid ultrasound for intima-media thickness). Thus, contrast agents play a pivotal role in noninvasive cardiovascular imaging and its use worldwide is likely to increase.
authors.affiliation: Middlesex University London, Department of Cardiology, Northwick Park Hospital, Watford Road, Harrow, Middlesex, London HA1 3UJ, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Rajesh K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Chelliah
authors.forename: Roxy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Senior
mesh_terms: D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D003287:Contrast Media / Q000494:pharmacology; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000379:methods*; D025401:Echocardiography, Stress / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D045423:Microbubbles; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media