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Myocardial Contrast Echocardiography in the Emergency Department

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Echocardiography in Acute Coronary Syndrome

Emergency departments across the United States annually treat close to 6 million patients who present with chest pain (CP).1 Only a minority of these patients (10–30%) are ultimately diagnosed as having an acute myocardial infarction or acute coronary syndrome (ACS).2, 3 Yet, many patients with noncardiac CP are admitted to the hospital or to observation units incurring enormous burden to the health-care system. It has been estimated that the majority of patients admitted to the hospital with CP have a noncardiac etiology.1 Of those who do have ACS, the standard diagnostic algorithms that are currently employed are frequently nondiagnostic, leading to a delayed or even missed diagnosis.2–4

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon, USA

    J. Todd Belcik & Jonathan R. Lindner

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  1. J. Todd Belcik
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Correspondence to J. Todd Belcik .

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  1. Division of Cardiology, St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center, Amsterdam Ave. 1111 , New York, 10025, U.S.A.

    Eyal Herzog

  2. Division of Cardiology, St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center, Amsterdam Ave. 1111 , New York, 10025, U.S.A.

    Farooq Chaudhry

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Belcik, J.T., Lindner, J.R. (2009). Myocardial Contrast Echocardiography in the Emergency Department. In: Herzog, E., Chaudhry, F. (eds) Echocardiography in Acute Coronary Syndrome. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84882-027-2_28

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84882-027-2_28

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