Hydrogen peroxide myocardial perfusion contrast echocardiography: I. Experimental study

Summary

Myocardial perfusion contrast two-dimentional echocardiography (2-DE) is a new method for determining the extent of experimental myocardial ischemia and infarction. 172 aortic root injections of a fresh mixture of 1 ml of 0.75 % hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and blood, and 75 pulmonary wedge injections of 1 ml of 3 % H₂O₂ were given to 24 open-chest dogs before and after ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) and four short-axis and long-axis views of the left ventricle were examined. 164 (95%) aortic root injections and 30 (40 %P< 0.05) pulmonary wedge injections showed homogeneous echocardiographic contrast intensification of normal myocardium before ligation of LAD and distinctly delineated echocardiographic contrast defect after ligation of LAD. When compared with aortic root injection, H₂O₂ pulmonary wedge injection has the adventage of less invasiveness and remains to be further studied.