Objective: We sought to evaluate the impact of a continuous intravenous infusion of perflutren on systemic pulmonary artery pressures at clinically relevant doses for myocardial perfusion imaging in pigs.
Methods: Five anesthetized, ventilated, open-chest pigs were administered perflutren intravenously at a rate of 0.0364 mL/kg/min over approximately 5 minutes.
Results: Optimal, sustained myocardial opacification was achieved in all animals. Perflutren produced transient, reversible increases in pulmonary artery pressures versus baseline: 10.6% (3.0 +/- 1.4 mm Hg; 95% confidence interval 1.7-4.2; P < .01) for systolic, 15.2% (2.5 +/- 1.4 mm Hg; 95% confidence interval 1.3-3.7; P < .05) for diastolic, and 11.6% (2.6 +/- 1.1 mm Hg; 95% confidence interval 1.68-3.65; P < .01) for mean pressures. Heart rate and systemic arterial pressures displayed nonsignificant increases during perflutren infusion compared with baseline.
Conclusion: A continuous intravenous infusion of perflutren at a rate achieving optimal, sustained myocardial perfusion imaging in pigs induces a mild, transient, not clinically significant increase in pulmonary artery pressures without affecting heart rate or systemic arterial pressures.