Myocardial contrast echocardiography: a new gold standard for perfusion imaging?

Recent developments have permitted myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE) to become a new method of noninvasively assessing myocardial perfusion in humans. Preliminary studies of myocardial perfusion imaging during adenosine, dipyridamole, and dobutamine stress echocardiography have shown excellent agreement with either radionuclide uptake or quantitative angiography. This article reviews the recent advances in microbubble technology, ultrasound imaging, and myocardial physiology that have made contrast echocardiography a potential new gold standard for perfusion imaging in the new millennium.