Abstract
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Right to left intracardiac shunt may be detected with echocardiography using intravenous agitated saline contrast (ACS).
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Intravenous ACS is low cost, safe, and easy to prepare at bedside.
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Injection of ACS results in opacification of the right atrium (RA) with microbubbles. Detection of microbubbles within the left atrium indicates a right-to-left shunt.
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Following contrast entry into the RA, detection of ACS contrast in the left atrium (LA) within three cardiac cycles indicates an intracardiac shunt; delay in ACS detection beyond three cardiac cycles is consistent with an intrapulmonary shunt.
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Mayo, P.H. (2020). Right to Left Shunt. In: Slama, M. (eds) Echocardiography in ICU. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32219-9_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32219-9_18
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