[Evaluation of myocardial perfusion by intravenous contrast echomyocardiography].

For the echocardiographic assessment of intramyocardial blood flow distribution by intravenous contrast echocardiographic technique, we measured the echo intensity of a point (phi 6 mm) in the interventricular septum using a lightmeter in end-diastole before and after the intravenous injection of various dosages of ether or hydrogen peroxide in one open-chest and four closed-chest dogs. Before the injection of contrast media, the echo intensity of the myocardium varied within a range of 6.1 +/- 4.6% After the injection of ether or hydrogen peroxide, the echo intensity of the myocardium increased. After the occlusion of the left anterior descending artery, echo enhancement of the left ventricular wall occurred, except for the left ventricular anterior wall and the interventricular septum. Between dosage (x) and % increase (y), relations of y = 127x - 3, in ether and y = 1.17x + 1.11, in hydrogen peroxide were observed. We found that the intravenous injection of at least 0.2 ml ether or 15 mg hydrogen peroxide was necessary to achieve effective echo enhancement of the myocardium in dogs.