Contrast echocardiography in daily clinical practice.
Ultrasound contrast agents have unique acoustic properties that enable them to enhance the cardiac blood flow and thus are used broadly in modern echocardiography laboratories for salvage of nondiagnostic studies, improving accuracy and reducing variability even in the presence of adequate image quality. Contrast echocardiography is also used as an adjunctive technique when unenhanced echocardiography falls short in the differentiation of cardiac structural abnormalities such as cardiac masses. Ultrasound contrast agents are pure intravascular tracers. Development of innovative ultrasound imaging techniques has led to myocardial perfusion imaging with contrast echocardiography. Although currently an off-label indication, it has been shown that perfusion imaging with contrast echocardiography adds incremental value to stress echocardiography in the detection of coronary artery disease. Moreover, it can be used for assessment of myocardial viability. In this paper we briefly discuss the basics of contrast echocardiography and its use in daily clinical practice.
King's College Hospital, London, UK. Mehdi.Eskandari@nhs.net.
M
M
Eskandari
King's College Hospital, London, UK.
M
M
Monaghan
D003287:Contrast Media; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000379:methods*; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D055414:Myocardial Perfusion Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D013318:Stroke Volume; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology
D003287:Contrast Media
Contrast media; Coronary artery disease; Left ventricle; Perfusion imaging; Ultrasonography