Jordan B Strom, Sharon L Mulvagh, Thomas R Porter, Michael L Main, Paul A Grayburn
{"title":"Illuminating the Safety of Ultrasound Contrast Agents.","authors":"Jordan B Strom, Sharon L Mulvagh, Thomas R Porter, Michael L Main, Paul A Grayburn","doi":"10.1016/j.amjcard.2024.11.035","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Echocardiography is an essential element for accurate and timely diagnosis of cardiac pathology. In this context, ultrasound enhancing agents (UEAs), are often essential for visualizing endocardial borders,<sup>1</sup> evaluating myocardial perfusion, characterizing intracardiac masses, and other applications. Although UEAs have been shown to be safe, rare serious adverse events (SAEs) have been reported. It is in this context that De La Fuente Gonzalez et al performed a systematic review evaluating randomized and observational data comparing the safety of UEA brands from 2018-2023. The authors conclude that \"Optison reduces risk of serious adverse events vs. Definity/Lumason.\" However, the data presented do not support such a conclusion, as will be discussed in this editorial. What can be concluded is that UEAs as a class are extremely safe with very rare SAEs. The use of UEAs during echocardiography are encouraged per guideline-directed indications based upon evidence-based reduction of misdiagnosis and duplicative testing.</p>","PeriodicalId":7705,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Cardiology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-12-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"American Journal of Cardiology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjcard.2024.11.035","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"CARDIAC & CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEMS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Echocardiography is an essential element for accurate and timely diagnosis of cardiac pathology. In this context, ultrasound enhancing agents (UEAs), are often essential for visualizing endocardial borders,1 evaluating myocardial perfusion, characterizing intracardiac masses, and other applications. Although UEAs have been shown to be safe, rare serious adverse events (SAEs) have been reported. It is in this context that De La Fuente Gonzalez et al performed a systematic review evaluating randomized and observational data comparing the safety of UEA brands from 2018-2023. The authors conclude that "Optison reduces risk of serious adverse events vs. Definity/Lumason." However, the data presented do not support such a conclusion, as will be discussed in this editorial. What can be concluded is that UEAs as a class are extremely safe with very rare SAEs. The use of UEAs during echocardiography are encouraged per guideline-directed indications based upon evidence-based reduction of misdiagnosis and duplicative testing.
期刊介绍:
Published 24 times a year, The American Journal of Cardiology® is an independent journal designed for cardiovascular disease specialists and internists with a subspecialty in cardiology throughout the world. AJC is an independent, scientific, peer-reviewed journal of original articles that focus on the practical, clinical approach to the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease. AJC has one of the fastest acceptance to publication times in Cardiology. Features report on systemic hypertension, methodology, drugs, pacing, arrhythmia, preventive cardiology, congestive heart failure, valvular heart disease, congenital heart disease, and cardiomyopathy. Also included are editorials, readers'' comments, and symposia.