Role of Biplane and Biplane Echocardiographically Guided 3-Dimensional Echocardiography During Dobutamine Stress Echocardiography

Image acquisition time and wall-motion score of conventional 2-dimensional (2D) dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) were compared with those of biplane and 3-dimensional (3D) DSE in 50 patients (age 67 ± 13 years) with regular rhythms during clinically indicated DSE. Commercially available systems were used for the study. We used a conventional transducer for 2D and a matrix-array transducer (×4 or ×3-1) for two biplane (60- and 120-degree) images and one 3D full-volume image. Image quality was scored as 1 = good; 2 = adequate; and 3 = inadequate. Segmental wall-motion scores for each method were analyzed in blinded fashion. Acquisition times of biplane (9.3 ± 2.8 seconds) and biplane-guided 3D (additional 2.6 ± 1.0 seconds) echocardiography were significantly shorter than those of conventional 2D DSE (60.0 ± 26.7 seconds) (P < .001). Image quality was adequate or good in 94% for biplane and 96% for 3D echocardiography. Agreement of segmental wall-motion score was present in 87.6% of segments for 2D versus biplane and 85.9% for 2D versus 3D at baseline and in 88.0% for 2D versus biplane and 87.4% for 2D versus 3D at peak stress. Acquisition of biplane or biplane-guided 3D volumetric data during DSE with use of a new matrix-array transducer was feasible and shortened image acquisition time without affecting the diagnostic yield compared with conventional 2D imaging.