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Myocardial contrast echocardiography: too much, too soon?
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Demaria, Anthony N. Cotter, Bruno Ohmori, Koji |
| Copyright Year | 1998 |
| Abstract | The ability to opacify the central circulation with dense ultrasonic reflectances after the injection of a variety of fluids, so-called contrast echocardiography, was described in 1968 (1). Since that time, the history of contrast echocardiography has been characterized by cycles of enormous expectations and subsequent disappointment. The enthusiasm generated by the initial description of contrast opacification was rapidly blunted by the realization that the contrast effect was removed during transit through the lungs, thereby preventing visualization of the left-sided chambers. Years later, the development of first-generation ultrasound contrast agents that could cross the lungs, such as sonicated serum albumin, promised to completely delineate the left ventricular endocardium on echocardiogram in all patients. However, left ventricular opacification was incomplete or absent in a significant percentage of patients undergoing such contrast studies. Even the demonstration that intracoronary administration of contrast agents could opacify the myocardium in patients and provide important clinical information concerning myocardial viability (2) and the noreflow phenomenon (3) was offset by the difficult logistics of performing the procedure. |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| PubMed reference number | 9809935 |
| Journal | Medline |
| Volume Number | 32 |
| Issue Number | 5 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://www.onlinejacc.org/content/accj/32/5/1270.full.pdf |
| Journal | Journal of the American College of Cardiology |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
