RESUMO
To assess the efficacy in carotid diagnosis of an investigational dodecafluoropentane ultrasonic contrast enhancing agent, we compared B-mode, color flow, and duplex Doppler findings in 16 patients with common carotid artery bifurcation disease after dodecafluoropentane and saline injections. Dodecafluoropentane produced enhanced backscatter in all patients for 4 to 20 min (mean, 8.4+/-4.74 min) after intravenous injection. In six patients this enhancement improved the color flow and pulsed Doppler signal detection in areas of sonographic shadowing. The enhanced color flow information changed the diagnostic impression in one case. Dodecafluoropentane produced enhanced backscatter in the carotid artery in all patients, and for a mean duration longer than that reported for other agents. It has the potential to improve the efficacy of carotid ultrasonic evaluation.
Assuntos
Estenose das Carótidas/diagnóstico por imagem , Meios de Contraste/administração & dosagem , Fluorocarbonos , Aumento da Imagem/métodos , Ultrassonografia Doppler , Idoso , Angiografia , Velocidade do Fluxo Sanguíneo , Artéria Carótida Primitiva , Estenose das Carótidas/fisiopatologia , Feminino , Fluorocarbonos/administração & dosagem , Seguimentos , Humanos , Injeções Intravenosas , Masculino , Reprodutibilidade dos Testes , Segurança , Tomografia Computadorizada por Raios XRESUMO
Ultrasound is widely used in the assessment of neurovascular diseases. In spite of its effectiveness there are considerable limitations such as low flow detection in carotid disease or limited bony windows in transcranial Doppler. One approach to overcome these limitations is the use of ultrasound contrast enhancing agents. The usefulness of ultrasound contrast enhancing agents Levovist, EchoGen and BY 963 in neurovascular applications has been evaluated. Contrast enhanced colourflow Doppler for the diagnosis of carotid disease has been investigated in three small trials and might be effective for improving the diagnostic yield in severe disease. Contrast enhanced transcranial colourflow Doppler has been relatively more widely explored also with promising results. Based on the combined findings out of these preliminary investigational trials, it appears to be reasonable to undertake larger trials for assessment of usefulness of ultrasound contrast agents for a variety of neurovascular applications.
