OBJECTIVE To compare the overall diagnostic costs associated with non-contrast and contrast echocardiography. STUDY DESIGN Phase III clinical trial. PATIENTS AND METHODS In a secondary analysis of data from a phase III clinical trial of the intravenous contrast agent Optison, we compared the costs associated with obtaining a diagnosis in 203 patients who underwent non-contrast and contrast ...

Introduction: Iatrogenic aortocoronary dissection (ACD) is a nightmare in interventional cardiology. Although ACD is rarely reported, the real-world prevalence is suspected of being higher due to unreported cases. The right coronary artery (RCA) ostium is involved in the majority of cases, and dissections are usually limited to the aortic sinus in half of the clinical presentat...

introduction: iatrogenic aortocoronary dissection (acd) is a nightmare in interventional cardiology. although acd is rarely reported, the real-world prevalence is suspected of being higher due to unreported cases. the right coronary artery (rca) ostium is involved in the majority of cases, and dissections are usually limited to the aortic sinus in half of the clinical presentations. there are d...

Intravenous contrast agents are clinically useful for objective assessment of left ventricular (LV) regional and global function in patients with sub-optimal echocardiography images. Recent concerns over the safety of second generation microbubble contrast agents have now been largely abated with the emergence of robust clinical data supporting its safety and clinical utility. With proper techn...

The history of contrast echocardiography dates back to 1968, when Gramiak and Shah first noted the echocardiographic appearance of bubbles in green dye injections. Commercial contrast agents became available in Europe in 1991 (Echovist, Berlex, Lachine, Quebec City, Canada) and in the U.S. in 1994 (Albunex, Mallinckrodt, St. Louis, Missouri), followed by second generation contrast agents (Optis...

Every technology yet to be consolidated needs to be compared with reference methods to evaluate its accuracy. Over the past years, contrast echocardiography has been compared against a variety of standards. In experimental studies, myocardial perfusion data from ultrasound have been compared with the measurements of coronary blood flow obtained by labeled microspheres, or with infarct size foll...

The authors explore the use of third generation echo contrast to define plaque in the ascending aorta and exclude more invasive procedures.