Agitated Blood-Saline Rather Than Agitated Air-Saline for Echocardiographic Shunt Studies

Bubble contrast echocardiography, with an agitated mixture of air and saline, is used for the detection of intrapulmonary or intracardiac right-to-left shunts.1 However, the administration of air in patients with large right-to-left shunts may have a risk of embolic complications including stroke.2-5 The addition of blood to the air-saline mixture aids with image quality.6,7 The goal of this study was to test the feasibility of an agitated blood-saline (without additional air) mixture in shunt studies and to compare its efficacy against the standard agitated air-saline in opacification of right-sided cardiac chambers.

Source: Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography - June 8, 2020 Category: Cardiology Authors: Mahmoud A. Ali, Mary J. Hepinstall, Cynthia S. Cassidy, Conor M. Lane, Patricia A. Pellikka, Jeremy J. Thaden, Sorin V. Pislaru, Garvan C. Kane Tags: Brief Research Communication Source Type: research