A novel approach to the diagnosis of left atrial appendage thrombus using contrast echocardiography and power Doppler imaging

Transesophageal echocardiography is performed routinely among patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) in order to exclude left atrial appendage (LAA) thrombus prior to cardioversion. Because assessment for LAA thrombus is dependent upon the experience of the operator and is therefore subjective, there remains a subset of patients in whom the diagnosis may not be definitive. The purpose of this report is to present a novel technique which may aid in the confirmation and/or exclusion of LAA thrombus using contrast echocardiography (CE) and power Doppler (PD) imaging.