Ultrasonic tissue characterization for coronary care unit patients with acute myocardial infarction

The ultrasonic integrated backscatter of myocardium changes in infarction and ischemia. On the third day after acute myocardial infarction, 30 patients underwent ultrasonic tissue characterization from the parasternal short-axis view. With a composite parameter, the phase-weighted variation, sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for diagnosing multivessel coronary artery disease were 84.6%, 52.9% and 66.6%, respectively. Using 67 degrees as the cutoff value for the phase deviation of the backscatter power curve, the recanalization of the infarct-related artery could be detected with a positive predictive value of 77.7% and a negative predictive value of 66.6%. Ultrasonic tissue characterization is a feasible technique for detecting the multivessel coronary artery diseases and the recanalization of infarct-related artery for patients with acute myocardial infarction. The diminished cardiac cycle-dependent variation in integrated backscatter and increased phase deviation can differentiate patent coronary arteries from those coronary arteries with anatomically significant stenoses.