Opinion Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Methodol. Sep 20, 2025; 15(3): 100490
Published online Sep 20, 2025. doi: 10.5662/wjm.v15.i3.100490
Echo contrast medium: How the use of contrast echocardiography (ultrasound contrast agents) can improve patient care
Kevan English
Kevan English, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Medicine, Omaha, NE 68198, United States
Author contributions: English K wrote the original draft; English K contributed to conceptualization, writing, reviewing, and editing; English K read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The author reports no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Kevan English, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Medicine, S 42nd & Emile St, Omaha, NE 68198, United States. keenglish@unmc.edu
Received: August 18, 2024
Revised: December 14, 2024
Accepted: December 20, 2024
Published online: September 20, 2025
Processing time: 200 Days and 5.5 Hours
Abstract

Conventional echocardiography can sometimes pose a challenge to diagnosis due to sub-optimal images. Ultrasound contrast agents (UCAs) have been shown to drastically enhance imaging quality, particularly depicting the left ventricular endocardial borders. Their use during echocardiography has become a valuable tool in non-invasive diagnostics. UCAs provide higher-quality images that may ultimately reduce the length of hospital stays and improve patient care. The higher cost associated with UCAs in many situations has been an impediment to frequent use. However, when used as an initial diagnostic test, UCA during rest echocardiogram is more cost-effective than the traditional diagnostic approach, which frequently includes multiple tests and imaging studies to make an accurate diagnosis. They can be easily performed across multiple patient settings and provide optimal images that allow clinicians to make sound medical decisions. This consequently allows for better diagnostic accuracies and improvement in patient care.

Keywords: Ultrasound contrast agents; Echocardiography; Myocardial perfusion; Ultrasound; Left ventricle; Optison; Definity; Sonazoid; Lumason

Core Tip: The use of ultrasound contrast agents (UCAs) during resting echocardiography can improve diagnostic accuracy by adequately assessing left ventricular (LV) function. Compared to standard echocardiograms, UCAs, when used, allow physicians to better assess regional wall motion abnormalities and LV ejection fraction. As a result, patients with LV apex disease can be accurately diagnosed without additional imaging. This consequently shortens hospital stays and improves patient outcomes.