A novel myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE) technique can diagnose and quantify damage to heart muscle even after an episode of mild cardiac injury from ischemia has resolved.
The study results were presented in a poster on Sunday at the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) annual meeting in Portland, OR.
A team led by Dr. Brian Mott of Oregon Health and Science University found that MCE with custom-designed phosphatidylserine-enriched microbubble contrast could bind to injured heart tissue to detect molecular changes that occurred up to six hours after a very brief reduction in blood flow.
The method could allow clinicians to detect problems at the bedside in minutes, and it could also be used to judge patient risk for a heart attack based on the size of the area that is jeopardized by low blood flow, according to the researchers.
