Superiority of the combination of blood and agitated saline for routine contrast enhancement

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the modification of the saline ec ho contrast method by mixing blood with agitated saline before intravenous injection. In 20 patients, contrast echocardiography was performed with a c onventional technique from the apical 4-chamber view. We used 2 techniques: (1) the combination of blood (1 mL) withdrawn from the patients and air-ag itated saline agitated, (2) air-agitated. In all patients, the blood combin ation technique was judged to make a greater contrast, with the agreement o f all 3 reviewers. Peak echo intensity of the right ventricular cavity by t he blood combination technique was significantly higher than that by agitat ed saline alone. In conclusion, the use of the combination of blood and agi tated saline is superior to agitated saline alone for the opacification of the right atrium and ventricle in routine echocardiography.