CONTRAST ECHOAORTOGRAPHY AS AN AID IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF RIGHT‐TO‐LEFT SHUNTING PATENT DUCTUS ARTERIOSUS

Contrast echocardiography has traditionally been used in conjunction with conventional echocardiography to document right-to-left intracardiac shunting congenital anomalies. This technique does not clearly demonstrate shunting of blood in patients with right-to-left patent ductus arteriosus, as the shunt is extracardiac. We used a variation of contrast echocardiography, contrast echoaortography, to confirm the presence of a right-to-left shunting patent ductus arteriosus in two dogs.