Contrast-enhanced ultrasound: a comprehensive review of safety in children

October 30, 2021 — Pediatric Radiology Abstract Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) has been increasingly used in pediatric radiology practice worldwide. For nearly two decades, CEUS applications have been performed with the off-label use of gas-containing second-generation ultrasound contrast agents (UCAs). Since 2016, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the UCA Luma-son for […]

Use of Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Sonography in Giant Cell Arteritis: A Proof-of-Concept Study

Abstract C-Reactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate are crucial parameters used to monitor giant cell arteritis (GCA). Given that tocilizumab is approved for the treatment of GCA, these parameters are less sensitive because of the effects of interleukin-6 receptor blockade. Thus, the optimal method for monitoring GCA patients undergoing tocilizumab therapy, especially patients exhibiting a […]

Sound Waves Aid Brain Tumor Treatment — In a small clinical study, focusing ultrasound beams on tumors in patients’ brains helped open the blood-brain barrier to facilitate drug delivery.

A first-in-human trial reported in Science Translational Medicine today (October 13) demonstrates delivery of an immunotherapy drug to metastatic brain tumors with the help of focused ultrasound. The targeted low-frequency sound waves temporarily opened the normally impenetrable blood-brain barrier at the sites of tumors in stage 4 breast cancer patients, enabling drug entry. Follow up […]

Detecting insulitis in type 1 diabetes with ultrasound phase-change contrast agents

Abstract Type 1 diabetes (T1D) results from immune infiltration and destruction of insulin-producing β cells within the pancreatic islets of Langerhans (insulitis). Early diagnosis during presymptomatic T1D would allow for therapeutic intervention prior to substantial β-cell loss at onset. There are limited methods to track the progression of insulitis and β-cell mass decline. During insulitis, […]

GE Healthcare Receives FDA Approval for Change in Contraindications in Prescribing Information for OptisonTM

(BUSINESS WIRE)  GE Healthcare announced today that it has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to remove hypersensitivity to ‘blood and blood products’ from the contraindications in its prescribing information for its product OptisonTM (Perflutren Protein-Type A Microspheres Injectable Suspension, USP). Optison is an ultrasound enhancing agent (UEA) that can improve […]

Experts call for expanded use of ultrasound contrast agents

Ultrasound experts at this week’s Advances in Contrast Ultrasound conference in Chicago called for expanded use of ultrasound contrast agents to offer patients broader access to what they said was low-cost, safe, and reliable diagnostic imaging. Ultrasound contrast agents are biocompatible and injected during an ultrasound scan to enhance the resolution of an ultrasound image. […]

Doctors predict benefits of ultrasound enhancing agents

BUSINESS WIRE –  Doctors today described new ways to predict whether specific patients will benefit from the use of ultrasound enhancing agents (UEAs) to improve the accuracy of their ultrasound scan for diagnosis of heart disease, the number one killer of Americans. “With increasing obesity and demographic trends that can interfere with ultrasound image quality, […]

The total resection rate of glioma can be improved by the application of US-MRI fusion combined with contrast-enhanced ultrasound

Abstract Objective This study was performed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of ultrasound-magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) fusion combined with contrast-enhanced ultrasound and to explore its role in improving the total tumor resection rate. Methods Between January 2018 and December 2018, 16 patients in the observation group and 23 patients in the control group were enrolled […]

Value of Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound in Differentiating Clinically Atypical Subacute Thyroiditis from Papillary Thyroid Carcinomas 

Abstract Our objective was to provide the various sonographic characteristics of clinically atypical subacute thyroiditis (CAST) in distinguishing CAST from papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTCs) by using conventional ultrasound (US) and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS). Forty-six CAST patients and 50 PTC patients were enrolled in this study. We evaluated the size, shape, margin, echogenicity, calcification, vascularity and […]

Experimental Study on the Compatibility and Characteristics of a Dual-Target Microbubble Loaded with Anti-miR-33

Abstract Objective To prepare a new type of dual-target microbubble loaded with anti-miR-33 (ANM33). Methods Carrier core nanobubbles (NBs) were prepared by thin film hydration, and microbubbles loaded with PM1 (PCNBs) were prepared by grafting DSPE-PEG2000-maleimide-PM1 onto the NB surface. ANM33 was connected via electrostatic adsorption and covalent bonding, and hyaluronic acid (HA) was covalently […]

The Value of Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound in Diagnosing Small Renal Cell Carcinoma Subtypes and Angiomyolipoma

Abstract Objectives To retrospectively explore the value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in differentiating small renal cell carcinomas (RCCs) from angiomyolipomas (AMLs), and distinguishing between clear cell RCC (ccRCC), papillary RCC (pRCC), and chromophobe RCC (chRCC). Methods and Analysis A total of 151 patients with small renal masses (110 ccRCCs, 12 pRCCs, 9 chRCCs, and 20 […]

Value of Conventional Ultrasonography with Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasonography in the Differential Diagnosis of Partial Cystic Thyroid Nodules

Abstract The value of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) in the diagnosis of malignant partial cystic thyroid nodules (PCTNs) remains unclear. Thus, in the present study, the data of patients with pathologically proven PCTNs who underwent CEUS in the Chinese PLA General Hospital from January 2016 to February 2019 were retrospectively reviewed, and the imaging characteristics of […]

Correlation Between Enhancement Patterns on Transabdominal Ultrasound and Survival for Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

Abstract Objective Investigate the CEUS enhancement patterns of PDAC and analyse correlations between the CEUS enhancement pattern and both the degree of tumour tissue differentiation and overall survival (OS). Methods The study included 56 patients with locally advanced PDAC, performed conventional ultrasound and CEUS, and analysed characteristics of the CEUS enhancement patterns. In addition, clinical […]

Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Safe, Effective in Mild Alzheimer’s Disease

A new noninvasive procedure is safe and effective for treating patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease (AD), new research suggests. The approach uses MRI-guided low-intensity focused ultrasound (FUS) and injected microbubbles to temporarily open the blood-brain barrier (BBB). In a small group of patients, the procedure was significantly associated with reduced amyloid plaque and cognitive decline. […]

Contrast ultrasound can predict treatment failure of bone fractures

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) can predict treatment failure for bone fractures that fail to heal, according to a German study published August 22 in Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology. Researchers led by Dr. Julian Doll from Heidelberg University Hospital in Germany found that CEUS can detect perfusion differences between consolidating and persistent nonunion fractures and can […]

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound of the spleen, pancreas and gallbladder in children

August 24, 2021 — Pediatric Radiology Abstract Gray-scale and color/power Doppler ultrasound (US) are the first-line imaging modalities to evaluate the spleen,gallbladder and pancreas in children. The increasing use of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) as a reliable andsafe method to evaluate liver lesions in the pediatric population promises potential for imaging other internal organs.Although CEUS applications […]

Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound for Differentiation Between Poorly Differentiated Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma

Abstract Purpose To evaluate the diagnostic performance of LR-5 for diagnosing poorly differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma (p-HCC). To build a contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) signature for improving the differential diagnostic performance between p-HCC and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). Methods The B-mode ultrasound (BUS) and CEUS features of 60 p-HCCs and 56 ICCs were retrospectively analyzed. The CEUS LI-RADS […]

Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound: A Viable Diagnostic Tool in Predicting Treatment Failure after Non-union Revision Surgery for Upper and Lower-Limb Non-unions

Abstract Non-unions remain a major complication in the treatment of long-bone fractures and affect quality of life considerably. Both early detection and treatment of non-unions are essential to secure subsequent fracture union. Sufficient vascularization plays a key role in the healing process. The aim of this prospective study was to quantify the microperfusion within non-unions […]