Quantification of the physiological relevance of a coronary stenosis using myocardial contrast echocardiography

MCE can be used in the catheterization laboratory or in the operating room to provide rapid assessments of the functional significance of a coronary stenosis from direct arterial injections of microbubbles. In the past few years, the development of more stable microbubble contrast agents, and a better understanding of the interactions between ultrasound and microbubbles have led to the development of a truly non-invasive approach to quantify MBF using venous infusions. Furthermore, additional insights into the physiology of coronary stenosis, particularly as it affects MBV, have been obtained using MCE.