Utility of contrast echocardiography in the diagnosis of aortic dissection.

Determination of ascending aortic involvement in aortic dissection has significant implications in prognosis, immediate surgical referral, and surgical approach. We report 2 cases of the use of an echo contrast agent in enhancing the diagnostic capability of transesophageal echocardiography in suspected ascending aortic dissection. Contrast echocardiography eliminated the linear artifacts often confused with true dissection flaps and allowed easy identification of the presence of true and false lumina.