Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Improves Diagnosis of Medical Conditions in Children

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New research released here Thursday shows that “contrast-enhanced ultrasound” (CEUS) can safely improve the diagnosis of a variety of medical conditions in children – without exposing them to ionizing radiation.

Dr. Martin Stenzel, a pediatric radiologist at the University Hospital in Jena, Germany, reported that no adverse safety event was found when CEUS was used to image some 50 pediatric patients at his hospital.

Stenzel presented his findings at the 16th European Symposium on Ultrasound Contrast Imaging in Rotterdam. The conference, which was co-sponsored by the International Contrast Ultrasound Society (ICUS), featured the latest clinical and research developments in the CEUS field.

“Our experience shows that this technology works in children as well as adults,” Stenzel said.

The youngest patient Stenzel and his colleagues examined with CEUS, was two years old, he said.

Unlike CT and nuclear imaging, ultrasound scans do not expose patients to ionizing radiation – which is associated with an increased lifetime risk of cancer, according to Stenzel.

“It is especially important to avoid subjecting children to diagnostic tests that use ionizing radiation because children have many years to live and the risk of cancer is cumulative,” Stenzel said. “In addition, we do not know how ionizing radiation may affect future reproductive capacity or the impact it may have on their unborn children.”

Stenzel said that since CEUS images are not jeopardized by patient movement, the technique is particularly suitable for imaging young patients who will not lay still. “This avoids the need for sedating children prior to imaging,” he said.

source: Business Wire