Advances in Echo Imaging Using Contrast Enhancement

One: History, basics and safety of contrast agents.- 1. Contrast-echocardiography — a historical perspective.- 2. Principles of echo contrast.- 3. Conventional echo-contrast agents. Hand preparation, sonication, properties.- 4. Albumin spheres as contrast agents.- 5. Saccharide based contrast agents.- 6. Echocontrast enhancers — how safe are they?.- 7. Gas bubble dynamics in acoustic fields and their biological consequences.- Two: Clinical uses of contrast agents.- 8. Clinical uses of contrast agents — practical considerations.- 9. Structure identification by transthoracic contrast echocardiography.- 10. Identification of right sided structures by contrast transesophageal echocardiography.- 11. Left ventricular contrast echocardiography — echoventriculography.- 12. Diagnosis of patent foramen ovale by transesophageal and transthoracic echocardiography.- 13. Spontaneous echographic contrast — etiology and clinical implications.- 14. Contrast enhanced Doppler in the noninvasive measurement of pulmonary artery pressure.- 15. Contrast enhanced Doppler in the assessment of aortic stenosis.- 16. Contrast enhanced color Doppler — basics and potential clinical value.- 17. Contrast enhanced color Doppler in the assessment of mitral regurgitation.- 18. Transesophageal echo-Doppler studies of coronary arteries — identification, assessment of flow reserve and value of contrast enhancement.- 19. Transesophageal echocardiographic assessment of coronary arteries using echo-contrast enhancement.- 20. Diagnostic value of contrast enhancement in vascular Doppler ultrasound.- Three: Future perspectives.- 21. Quantitative contrast Doppler intensitometry.- 22. Role of echo-contrast in quantitative analysis.- 23. Potential applications of color-Doppler imaging of the myocardiumin assessing contractility and perfusion.- 24. Myocardial imaging by color-Doppler coded velocity mapping — from regional contraction to tissue characterization?.