Role of Contrast Echocardiography for the Assessment of Left Ventricular Function.

The endocardial border of the left ventricle is incompletely identified in at least 30% of patients at rest or during stress echocardiography during fundamental imaging. This may lead to inaccurate assessment of regional and global left ventricular function or may lead to further diagnostic imaging with another modality resulting in a higher cost of healthcare. The recent development of second generation ultrasound contrast agents has resulted in improved detection of endocardial border at rest and during stress fundamental echocardiography. This has been consistently shown in various clinical trials involving 702 patients using a new contrast agent, SonoVuetrade mark. Other studies with contrast agents have also shown improved accuracy for determining left ventricular ejection fraction and volumes. Although unenhanced tissue harmonic imaging itself improved the assessment of left ventricular function, contrast enhanced harmonic imaging has recently been shown to be more accurate; however, larger clinical studies are required to establish the value of harmonic contrast imaging for the assessment of left ventricular function.