Role of intravenous ultrasound contrast in stress echocardiography

Intravenous newer generation perfluorocarbon containing microbubbles have b een shown to enhance endocardial borders, especially during harmonic imagin g. Although this significantly improves the detection of wall-motion abnorm alities during stress echocardiography, intermittent imaging consistently r esults in myocardial contrast following intravenous infusions or injections of perfluorocarbon microbubbles. Detection of myocardial perfusion abnorma lities during both exercise and pharmacologic stress echocardiography appea rs to be feasible clinically with either intravenous injections or continuo us infusions of microbubbles using intermittent harmonic imaging. Accelerat ed intermittent harmonic imaging allows one to rapidly acquire both myocard ial perfusion and wall motion during exercise and dobutamine stress echocar diography.