Abstract
Objective. The objective was to assess a standardized imaging and contrast injection protocol for contrast-enhanced dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE).
Methods: A total of 102 patients underwent DSE with tissue harmonic imaging and a standardized protocol with contrast power modulation. Contrast intensities in the left ventricular cavity and die myocardium were evaluated by a visual score and quantitative analysis.
Results: Of the contrast studies, 98% were diagnostic without modification of the settings. Excellent endocardial border definition was found in 93% of the segments with contrast versus 53% with tissue harmonic imaging (P <.05). The interobserver agreement in assessing segmental wall motion improved from 71.5% to 85.9%. There were no differences between the myocardial segments' video intensity in the four- and three-chamber views. in the two-chamber view video intensity was lower in the basal segments compared with the other segments.
Conclusion: Power modulation contrast imaging can be applied with a completely standardized protocol for DSE in the majority of patients with excellent endocardial border defnition.
Methods: A total of 102 patients underwent DSE with tissue harmonic imaging and a standardized protocol with contrast power modulation. Contrast intensities in the left ventricular cavity and die myocardium were evaluated by a visual score and quantitative analysis.
Results: Of the contrast studies, 98% were diagnostic without modification of the settings. Excellent endocardial border definition was found in 93% of the segments with contrast versus 53% with tissue harmonic imaging (P <.05). The interobserver agreement in assessing segmental wall motion improved from 71.5% to 85.9%. There were no differences between the myocardial segments' video intensity in the four- and three-chamber views. in the two-chamber view video intensity was lower in the basal segments compared with the other segments.
Conclusion: Power modulation contrast imaging can be applied with a completely standardized protocol for DSE in the majority of patients with excellent endocardial border defnition.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1194-1202 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography |
Volume | 18 |
Issue number | 11 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2005 |
Keywords
- albumins
- contrast media
- coronary artery disease
- dobutamine
- echocardiography
- exercise testing
- fluorocarbons
- France
- Great Britain
- humans
- image enhancement
- image interpretation, computer-assisted
- Phospholipids
- physician's practice patterns
- reference standards
- reproducibility of results
- sensitivity and specificity
- sulfur hexafluoride
- ventricular dysfunction, left