Contrast perfusion echocardiography identification of area at risk of dyskinesis during percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty

Abstract Two-dimensional contrast perfusion echocardiography was performed in 14 patients who underwent percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty to test the efficacy of this new technique for defining the area at risk of dyskinesis during acute coronary occlusion. In nine patients (group A) selective coronary injection of echocontrast medium through the central lumen of the angioplasty catheter was performed immediately before balloon inflation. This produced regional myocardial enhancement that defined the area of dyskinesis after balloon inflation. In five patients (group B) who underwent left coronary angloplasty, echocontrast medium was injected through the introducer catheter positioned in the left main coronary artery during balloon inflation. In each case this produced regional myocardial enhancement remote from the area of dyskinesis. There were no complications related to the intracoronary echocontrast injections, which produced no discernible exacerbation of chest pain or left ventricular contractile dysfunction. These data indicate that selective coronary injection of echocontrast medium defines the perfusion territory of the artery injected and also provides a means of identifying the area at risk of dyskinesis after balloon occlusion of the artery.