Myocardial contrast echocardiography in experimental coronary artery occlusion with a new intravenously administered contrast agent.

A new intravenously administered ultrasound contrast agent was studied in eight dogs during intermittent coronary artery occlusion. The area of the myocardial contrast defect was compared with that of the acute wall motion abnormality induced by coronary occlusion. A close correlation was found between these two independent measures of acute myocardial ischemia. The peak change in myocardial intensity during coronary occlusion was significantly less than for the same segment before ischemia and for a remote nonischemic segment. This new, intravenously administered ultrasound contrast agent can be used to evaluate the spatial distribution of hypoperfused myocardium and should therefore prove valuable in the clinical evaluation of ischemic syndromes.