Both non-air-based agents show promise in gene delivery in skeletal muscle with undetectable tissue damage. Enhanced gene transfer with additional ultrasound was achieved only with SonoVue.

Ultrasonographic diagnosis of gallstones in the distal part of extrahepatic duct is not easy. A number of new techniques have been used by the authors to improve the detection rate of these stones. They include filling the duodenum and gastric antrum with drinking water, scanning after a fatty meal, and changing the patient's position during scanning. Ultrasound successfully identified choledocholithiasis in 78 of 104 patients for a sensitivity of 75%. There were 26 false-negative cases. The chief causes of the false negatives were obscuration of the distal duct by overlying bowel gas, missing of small stone in a nondilated bile duct, and misdiagnosis of soft pigment or an impacted stone having an atypical hypoechoic image in the distal duct as a tumor. False-positive diagnosis occurred in 32 out of 188 noncalculous cases, giving a specificity of 83%. These cases represent various hyperechoic lesions in the neck of gallbladder, cystic duct, and periampullary region. The overall diagnostic accuracy of gallstones in the extrahepatic bile duct by ultrasound was 80% (234/292).

The regression equation is accurate and feasible and could be used for predicting prognosis of HCC, it helps to select treatment method (resection or PMCT) for HCC patients to realize individualized treatment to improve prognosis.

Single-level dynamic contrast-enhanced ultrasonography with a low mechanical index level could provide real-time and continuous enhanced images and fully delineate the typical enhancement pattern of liver tumors. The analysis of time-intensity curves may provide useful, complementary, and quantitative information. This technique may be useful for the diagnosis of liver tumors, especially those showing an atypical enhancement pattern on biphasic helical computed tomographic scanning.

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