R. Leischik et al., COMPARISON OF A NEW INTRAVENOUS ECHO CONTRAST AGENT (BY-963) WITH ALBUNEX FOR OPACIFICATION OF LEFT-VENTRICULAR CAVITY, Basic research in cardiology, 91(1), 1996, pp. 101-109
Transpulmonary echo contrast agents improve the evaluation of left ven
tricular function by two-dimensional echocardiography due to a better
endocardial border delineation. To compare the contrast effect in the
right and left ventricular cavities, a new transpulmonary echocontrast
agent, BY 963 and Albunex were intravenously administered to five non
-anaesthetized dogs. The right and left ventricular echocardiographic
image intensities were quantitatively measured at 60 cardiac cycles us
ing a commercially available ultrasound system. BY 963 and Albunex wer
e intravenously administered at three doses: 0.01 ml/Kg, 0.05 ml/Kg an
d 0.1 ml/Kg. The area under the curve (AUC, intensity units x heart cy
cles) and peak intensity (Peak I, intensity units) were estimated for
the right (RV) and left ventricular (LV) cavities at the mid ventricul
ar level using acoustic intensitometry. BY 963 injection produced the
following values: At the dose of 0.01, 0.05 and 0.1 ml/Kg the AUC amou
nted to 702 +/- 449, 877 +/- 470 and 890 +/- 320 intensity units x hea
rt cycles in RV and to 542 +/-t 406, 806 +/- 557 and 721 +/- 392 in LV
(LV/RV ratios: 77%, 92% and 81%). Peak I was at the doses 0.01, 0.05
and 0.1 ml/Kg 29 +/- 4.7, 33 +/- 5.2 and 35 +/- 3.2 intensity units in
RV and 18 +/- 5.9, 21 +/- 6.2 and 20 +/- 3.3 in LV (LV/RV ratios: 62%
, 64% and 57%). Albunex also produced right and left heart opacificati
on values: at the doses 0.01, 0.05 and 0.1 ml/Kg the AUC amounted to 4
16 +/- 231, 493 +/- 231 and 674 +/- 390 in RV and to 71 +/- 71, 158 +/
- 102 and 277 +/- 120 in LV (LV/RV ratios: 17%, 34% and 41%). Peak I w
as at the doses of 0.01, 0.05 and 0.1 ml/Kg 19 +/- 5.2, 23 +/- 5.4 and
29 +/- 4.1 in RV and 8 +/- 4.8, 13 +/- 4.7 and 17 +/- 3.2 in LV (LV/R
V ratios: 42%, 57% and 59%). Intravenous injection of BY 963 leads to
complete opacification of the left ventricular cavity and to high AUC
values and peak intensity values at all three dosages. The loss of con
trast effect from the right to the left ventricular cavity was very lo
w: the LV/RV ratio of BY 963 was higher than that of Albunex.The new t
ranspulmonary echo contrast agent BY 963 promises to be an excellent e
cho contrast agent for the noninvasive assessment of left ventricular
function.