Skip Navigation



European Heart Journal Advance Access published online on November 24, 2005
European Heart Journal, doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehi636
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (Rapid PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
27/3/310    most recent
ehi636v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Duerschmied, D.
Right arrow Articles by Hehrlein, C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Duerschmied, D.
Right arrow Articles by Hehrlein, C.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

European Heart Journal © The European Society of Cardiology 2005; all rights reserved
Received February 28, 2005
Revised October 13, 2005
Accepted October 20, 2005

Clinical research

Contrast ultrasound perfusion imaging of lower extremities in peripheral arterial disease: a novel diagnostic method

Daniel Duerschmied 1 *, Lisa Olson 1, Manfred Olschewski 2, Alexandra Rossknecht 3, Gabriele Freund 1, Christoph Bode 1, and Christoph Hehrlein 1

1 Department of Cardiology and Angiology, University Hospital of Freiburg, Hugstetter Str. 55, 79106 Freiburg, Germany
2 Department of Medical Biometry and Statistics, University Hospital of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
3 GE Healthcare Technologies, Ultrasound Europe, Solingen, Germany

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Daniel Duerschmied, E-mail: duerschmied{at}medizin.ukl.uni-freiburg.de


  Abstract

Aims The purpose of this study was to establish contrast-enhanced ultrasound perfusion imaging (CUPI) of the lower extremities as a novel non-invasive diagnostic tool for patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD).

Methods and results Ultrasound contrast agent (SonoVueTM) was injected into a peripheral vein of 16 control subjects and 16 PAD patients and its appearance in the calf muscle was detected by low-energy harmonic ultrasound. Analysis of the wash-in curves revealed that PAD patients had a significantly longer time to peak intensity (TTP), i.e. duration of maximum contrast perfusion [37 s (19-79 s) in control subjects vs. 56 s (32-104 s) in PAD patients at rest, age-adjusted P = 0.002]. Exercise stress test of the calf muscle resulted in a decrease of the TTP, maintaining the significant difference in TTP between the groups [19 s (8-37 s) in control subjects vs. 32 s (18-48 s) in PAD patients after exercise, age-adjusted P = 0.004]. Neither ankle-brachial index and TTP nor age and TTP showed a significant correlation.

Conclusion CUPI reflects the regional blood circulation of the calf muscle. In this pilot study, PAD patients show a significantly longer TTP than control subjects. The clinical relevance of CUPI is topic of ongoing studies.

Keywords: Peripheral arterial disease; Contrast ultrasound; Microcirculation.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J Am Coll Cardiol ImgHome page
J. R. Lindner, L. Womack, E. J. Barrett, J. Weltman, W. Price, N. L. Harthun, S. Kaul, and J. T. Patrie
Limb Stress-Rest Perfusion Imaging With Contrast Ultrasound for the Assessment of Peripheral Arterial Disease Severity
J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. Img., May 1, 2008; 1(3): 343 - 350.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J Am Coll Cardiol ImgHome page
T. T. Rissanen, P. Korpisalo, H. Karvinen, T. Liimatainen, S. Laidinen, O. H. Grohn, and S. Yla-Herttuala
High-Resolution Ultrasound Perfusion Imaging of Therapeutic Angiogenesis
J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. Img., January 1, 2008; 1(1): 83 - 91.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.