Background: It has been previously suggested that simultaneous exposure of hearts to contrast and ultrasound can damage the myocardium and produce a transient decrease of the contractility in animals. Tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) is a useful tool to quantify the myocardial function with very high temporal resolution.
Aim of the study: The aim of the study was to test whether contrast echocardiography (CE) can cause alteration of the myocardial function by using tissue Doppler analysis.
Methods: Twenty-eight healthy patients (mean age: 44 +/- 22) underwent baseline echocardiography before and after 5 min of continuous intravenous infusion of Sonovue from the apical views, using an intermediate mechanical index (MI = 1). High frame rate images were acquired in tissue Doppler mode. Data were averaged over 3 cardiac cycles and analysed off-line before and after CE.
Results: There were no significant changes, before and after CE, in the peak systolic velocity (basal septum (BS): 6.2 +/- 2.2 vs 6.4 +/- 2.6; basal lateral (BL): 6.2 +/- 3.1 vs 6.4 +/- 3.3 cm/s), in the peak diastolic E velocity (BS: 5.4+/-1.8 vs 5.3+/-1.7; BL: 7.3+/-2.4 vs 7.7 +/- 3.2 cm/s), in the peak diastolic A velocity (BS: 6.3 +/- 1.9 vs 6.9 +/- 2.4; BL: 6.1 +/- 3.5 vs 6.2 +/- 2.5 cm/s), in the peak systolic strain (BS: 16 +/- 7 vs 17 +/- 7; BL: 12.6 +/- 5 vs 12.9 +/- 5%) and in peak systolic strain rate (BS: 1.3+/-0.6 vs 1.4+/-0.6; BL: 1.2+/-0.5 vs 1.21+/-0.51 1/sec).
Conclusions: Our data suggest that CE does not cause alterations in the myocardial function as assessed by tissue Doppler imaging. CE, even with high MI settings, usually used for left ventricular opacification, can be safely performed.