Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 Nov;25(11):1581-1587.
doi: 10.1007/s11886-023-01970-y. Epub 2023 Oct 3.

Contrast Echocardiography for Assessing Myocardial Perfusion

Sofia Capdeville  1 , Bethany A Gholson  1 , Jonathan R Lindner  2
Affiliations
Review

Contrast Echocardiography for Assessing Myocardial Perfusion

Sofia Capdeville et al. Curr Cardiol Rep. 2023 Nov.

Abstract

Purpose of review: Improvements in ultrasound methods for detecting microbubble ultrasound enhancing agents have led to an increase in the use of perfusion imaging with myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE). This technique is now beginning to play an important role in specific clinical scenarios, which is the focus of this review.

Recent findings: MCE was originally conceived as a technique for detecting resting perfusion abnormalities related to ischemia at rest or during stress from coronary artery disease. More recently, MCE has increasingly been used in circumstances where the technique's ability to provide rapid, quantitative, or bedside assessment of perfusion is advantageous. Quantitative MCE is also increasingly being used as a research technique for evaluating pathobiology and therapy that involve changes in the myocardial microcirculation. While MCE was developed and validated decades ago, it is only now beginning to be used by an increasing number of clinicians due to improvements in imaging technology and recognition of specific situations where the technique is impactful.

Keywords: Microbubbles; Microcirculation; Myocardial contrast echocardiography.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance
    1. Porter TR, Mulvagh SL, Abdelmoneim SS, Becher H, Belcik JT, Bierig M, et al. Clinical applications of ultrasonic enhancing agents in echocardiography: 2018 American Society of Echocardiography Guidelines update. J Am Soc Echocardiogr. 2018;31:241–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.echo.2017.11.013 . - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kaufmann BA, Wei K, Lindner JR. Contrast echocardiography. Curr Probl Cardiol. 2007;32:51–96. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Epstein PSP, M.S. On the stability of gas bubbles in liquid-gas solutions. J Chem Phys. 1950;18:1505–1509.
    1. de Jong N, Hoff L, Skotland T, Bom N. Absorption and scatter of encapsulated gas filled microspheres: theoretical considerations and some measurements. Ultrasonics. 1992;30:95–103. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sarkar K, Shi WT, Chatterjee D, Forsberg F. Characterization of ultrasound contrast microbubbles using in vitro experiments and viscous and viscoelastic interface models for encapsulation. J Acoust Soc Am. 2005;118:539–50. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources