Subendocardial myocardial ischemia as assessed with myocardial contrast echocardiography in patients with ischemic heart diseases.

Myocardial contrast echocardiography was used to characterize changes in the regional and transmural myocardial blood flow distribution that were provoked by rapid atrial pacing stress in patients with coronary artery diseases. In patients with coronary organic stenosis, a decrease in the myocardial contrast-enhancement in the subendocardial half after rapid atrial pacing was associated with stress-induced chest pain and electrocardiographic ST-T changes. The decrease in the myocardial contrast-enhancement in the subendocardial half after rapid atrial pacing was not observed in patients without coronary stenosis or after coronary angioplasty. Thus, the finding was considered to reflect myocardial ischemia. Pacing-induced decreases in myocardial contrast-enhancement were observed in some patients with old myocardial infarction and significant resting coronary collaterals. In these patients, myocardial ischemia was considered to have developed at rapid pacing because collateral function was good enough to perfuse the infarct myocardium at rest, but was not good enough to prevent myocardial ischemia at stress. Thus, myocardial contrast echocardiography seems to be particularly useful in assessing myocardial ischemia at stress due to coronary stenosis in patients with angina pectoris and due to poor dynamic collateral function in patients with old myocardial infarction.