A bubble study is also known as an agitated saline contrast study.
Overall, it takes about 30 minutes to do a bubbly study test.
The echo waves show up on an echocardiogram as increased density.
Caiaimage / Sam Edwards / Getty Images
How to Prepare
Usually, there is no preparation needed before a bubble study.
Check with your healthcare provider about what it’s crucial that you do to get ready for the test.
Then, they go out of the pulmonary artery and into the lungs.
Once in the lungs, they can be filtered out through circulation.
An intracardiac shunt can be brought on by a PFO, anatrial septal defect, or aventricular septal defect.
Commercial forms of bubbles are available to be used during bubble studies.
These new agents usually are made of tiny protein orphospholipidcasings with gas in them.
They are safe in most cases and may provide better echo imaging.
However, they are much more expensive than a shaken saline solution.
Are There Risks With a Bubble Study?
Doing this temporarily raises the pressures inside the right side of the heart.
If there is a PFO, the bubbles can often be seen going into the left atrium.
Bubbles appearing in the left atrium during the test confirm there is a PFO.
Why Are PFOs a Problem?
If they are, having a PFO could be more likely to increase a persons risk of stroke.
Summary
A bubble study can be done to see how the blood flows through the heart.
It is done as part of an echocardiogram.
You may need a bubble study to diagnose a heart problem like a patent foramen ovale (PFO).
A bubble study usually does not take long.
A bubble study is safe but there are risks involved with any test.
2019;28(8):1183-1189. doi:10.1016/j.hlc.2018.07.007
NHS.Bubble contrast echocardiogram.
2018;101(6):37-39.
Published 2018 Aug 1.
Bassett G, Lin J, Tran M, Sistino J.Evaluating the potential risks of bubble studies during echocardiography.Perfusion.
2015;30(3):219-223. doi:10.1177/0267659114539182
National Neuroscience Institute.Transcranial doppler bubble study.
