Myocardial perfusion abnormalities during low-dose dobutamine after coronary reperfusion can be demonstrated with intravenous perfluorocarbon-exposed sonicated dextrose albumin ultrasound contrast.

We measured background-subtracted peak myocardial videointensity (PMVI) in the left anterior descending and left circumflex perfusion zones in open-chest dogs after intravenous injection of perfluorocarbon-exposed sonicated dextrose albumin ultrasound contrast (PESDA) after reperfusion of a coronary occlusion. These measurements were repeated during low-dose dobutamine (LDD). The ratio of PMVI in the reperfused zone (RZ) compared with the adjacent normal zone (NZ) was measured at baseline and during LDD. Dogs with a >50% diameter residual stenosis were group I (n = 10), and those with <50% residual stenosis were group II (n = 13). Wall-thickening (WT) responses to LDD were not different between groups. Although the PMVI ratio (PMVI(RZ)/PMVI(NZ)) was the same in both groups at baseline, it decreased by >0.1 during LDD in 8 of 10 in group I compared with only 3 of 13 in group II dogs (p = 0.01). PMVI in the RZ increased by > or = 1.5 U in 12 of 13 group II dogs during LDD, but only in 3 of 10 group I dogs. Therefore, intravenous PESDA can be combined with WT responses to define both myocardial function and flow after reperfusion.