title: Impact of Contrast Echocardiography on Assessment of Ventricular Function and Clinical Diagnosis in Routine Clinical Echocardiography: Korean Multicenter Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Fundamental echocardiography has some drawbacks in patients with difficult-to-image echocardiograms. The aim of this study is to evaluate impact of contrast echocardiography (CE) on ventricular function assessment and clinical diagnosis in routine clinical echocardiography.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two hundred sixty patients were prospectively enrolled over 3 years in 12 medical centers in Korea. General image quality, the number of distinguishable segments, ability to assess regional wall motion, left ventricular (LV) apex and right ventricle (RV) visualization, LV ejection fraction, changes in diagnostic or treatment plan were documented after echocardiography with and without ultrasound contrast agent.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Poor or uninterpretable general image was 31% before contrast use, and decreased to 2% (p<0.05) after contrast use. The average number of visualized LV segments was 9.53 before contrast use, and increased to 14.46 (p<0.001) after contrast use. The percentage of poor or not seen LV regional wall motion was decreased from 28.4% to 3.5% (p<0.001). The percentage of poor or not seen LV apex and RV was decreased from 49.4% to 2.4% (p<0.001), from 30.5% to 10.5% (p<0.001), respectively. Changes in diagnostic procedure and treatment plan after CE were 30% and 29.6%, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Compared to fundamental echocardiography, CE impacted LV function assessment and clinical decision making in Korean patients who undergo routine echocardiography.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Bongseng Memorial Hospital, Busan, Korea.
authors.forename: Doo-Youp
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Busan, Korea.
authors.forename: Jung-Hyun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Geu-Ru
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Se-Joong
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Rim
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Wonju College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Wonju, Korea.
authors.forename: Jang-Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sang-Chol
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Il-Suk
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Sohn
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Heart Center, Gachon University Gil Hospital, Gachon University School of Medicine, Incheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Wook-Jin
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Soonchunhyang University Hospital, Bucheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Hye-Sun
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, Korea.
authors.forename: Se-Jung
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kosin University Gospel Hospital, Busan, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyoung-Im
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Chungnam National University Hospital, Daejeon, Korea.
authors.forename: Si-Wan
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Eulji University Hospital, Daejeon, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyung-Jin
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Lee
keywords: Contrast echocardiography; Koreans; Multicenter study