Two-dimensional speckle tracking for the assessment of coronary artery disease during dobutamine stress echo: clinical tool or merely research method.

Background: Two-dimensional speckle tracking provides valuable information for regional wall motion abnormalities. The purpose of this study was to determine the diagnostic value of left ventricular longitudinal strain and torsion to diagnose coronary artery disease during dobutamine stress echocardiography.

Methods: We studied 100 patients (mean age 60.

Value of real-time three-dimensional adenosine stress contrast echocardiography in patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease.

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of myocardial wall-motion and perfusion assessment using contrast echocardiography during real-time three-dimensional (RT3D) adenosine stress test, and compare its diagnostic accuracy with the two-dimensional (2D) method using coronary angiography as reference.

Methods And Results: Patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease (CAD) have been submitted to adenosine stress contrast echocardiography and coronary angiography, within a 1-month period. Two-dimensional apical four, two, and three chamber, as well as three-dimensional (3D) pyramidal full-volume data sets were acquired at rest and at peak stress.

Safety of myocardial flash-contrast echocardiography in combination with dobutamine stress testing for the detection of ischaemia in 5250 studies.

Objective: The purpose of the present study was to provide evidence regarding the safety of real-time flash-contrast echocardiography combined with dobutamine-atropine stress echo (DASE).

Background: The combination of perfusion assessment using myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE) with DASE has shown very promising results for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease. Concerns have, however, been expressed regarding the safety of the use of echo-contrast agents in echocardiography.