Value of low dose dobutamine real-time myocardial contrast echocardiography in the assessment of coronary artery disease

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the value of real-time myocardial contrast echocardiography （RT-MCE） combined with middle dose dobutamine stress test in the detection of coronary artery disease （CAD）.Methods 49 hospitalized patients referred for coronary angiography and subsequent revascularization underwent rou- tine echocardiography, RT-MCE at baseline and after low dose dobutamine administration. The images of RT-MCE were analyzed quantitatively from microbubble replenishment curves formyocardial perfusion. Results After co patients, 15 appeared f coronary arterial stenosis, stenosis of 15 patients was from 50% to 95%. In stenosis ronary angiography, among the 49 the degree of coronary arterial the 15 case of coronary artery At baseline, compared with the coronary angiography, it was showed that there was a no significant myocardial perfusion reduced showed in MCE study in 33. 3% patients. Under dobutamine stress, it was showed that there was a significant myocardial perfusion reduced showed in MCE study in all patients, while the number of segment increase and the score index decrease. Conclusion RT-MCE in conjunction with dobutamine stress can be used as a sensitive measure to identify and stratify CAD as well as to assess the contribution of collateral blood flow. Key words: Echocardiography Contrast media Dobutamine myocardial perfusion