Congenital heart disease (CHD) is one of the most common birth defects, with an incidence of nine out of every 1,000 live births. The mortality of infants with CHD has decreased over the past 3 decades, but significant morbidity and mortality continue to occur if not diagnosed shortly after birth. Pulse oximetry was recommended as a screening tool to detect critical CHD in 2011 by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Heart Association. Pulse oximetry is a tool to measure oxygen saturation, and based on the presence of hypoxemia, many cardiac lesions are detected. Due to its ease of application to the patient, providing results in a timely manner and without the need for calibrating the sensor probe, pulse oximetry offers many advantages as a screening tool. However, pulse oximetry has also important limitations of which physicians should be aware to be able to assess the significance of the pulse oximetry measurement for a given patient. This review aims to highlight the benefits and shortcomings of pulse oximetry within the context of screening for critical CHD and suggests future avenues to cover existing gaps in current practices.

AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the success of irreversible electroporation (IRE) in prostate cancer and to differentiate between reactive changes and tumor. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This is a retrospective pilot study of 50 patients after irreversible electroporation (IRE) in prostate cancer between 50–79 years (mean age 65 years). Each patient received a transabdominal sonography using a 1–6 MHz convex matrix probe. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) was performed after i.v. bolus injection of 2.0 ml sulphur hexafluoride microbubbles. DICOM loops were continuously stored up to one minute. Parametric images were calculated by integrated perfusion analysis software. A comparison was drawn to a follow-up MRI six months after ablation. RESULTS: While 13 patients showed local recurrence, 37 patients were successfully treated, meaning no local recurrence within six months after ablation. 18 patients showed signs of prostatitis after IRE. Tumorous changes were visually characterized by dynamic early nodular hypervascularization with fast and high wash-in. Correspondingly, nodular red and yellow shades were seen in parametric imaging. All patients with remaining tumor were correctly identified with CEUS and parametric imaging. After IRE there is a relevant decrease in tumor microcirculation in all patients, as seen in more purple shades of the prostate. The sensitivity for detecting residual tumor with CEUS compared to MRI was 76 %, the specificity was 81 %. The corresponding positive predictive value (PPV) was 73 % and the negative predictive value (NPV) was 83 %. CONCLUSION: CEUS and parametric imaging enable a critical analysis of post-ablation defects after IRE for prostate cancer even with a transabdominal approach. Remaining tumor can be detected with the help of pseudo-colors.

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AIM: To examine to what extent the high frame rate contrast-enhanced ultrasound (HiFR) diagnostic enables the conclusive diagnosis of liver changes with suspected malignancy. MATERIAL/METHODS: Ultrasound examinations were performed by an experienced examiner using a multifrequency probe (SC6-1) on a high-end ultrasound system (Resona 7, Mindray) to clarify liver changes that were unclear on the B-scan. A bolus of 1–2.4 ml of the Sulphur hexafluoride ultrasound microbubbles contrast agent SonoVue™ (Bracco SpA, Italy) was administered with DICOM storage of CEUS examinations from the early arterial phase (5–15 s) to the late phase (5–6 min). Based on the image files stored in the PACS, an independent reading was performed regarding image quality and finding-related diagnostic significance (0 not informative/non-diagnostic to 5 excellent image quality/confident diagnosis possible). References were clinical follow-up, if possible, comparison to promptly performed computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging, in some cases also to histopathology. RESULTS: We examined 100 patients (42 women, 58 men, from 18 years to 90 years, mean 63±13 years) with different entities of focal and diffuse liver parenchymal changes, which could be detected in all cases with sufficient image quality with CEUS and with high image quality with HiFR-CEUS. Proportionally septate cysts were found in n = 19 cases, scars after hemihepatectomy with local reduced fat in n = 5 cases, scars after microwave ablation in n = 19 cases, hemangiomas in n = 9 cases, focal nodular hyperplasia in n = 8 cases, colorectal metastases in n = 15 cases, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in n = 11 cases, Osler disease in n = 8 cases. The size of lesions ranged from 5 mm to 200 mm with a mean value of 33.1±27.8 mm. Conclusive diagnoses could be made by the experienced investigator in 97/100 cases with CEUS, confirmed by reference imaging, in parts by histopathology or follow-up. The image quality for HiFR CEUS was rated with a score of 3 to 5; 62 cases were assessed with an average of good (4 points), 27 cases with very good (5 points), and in 11 cases (3 points) still satisfactory despite aggravated acoustic conditions. The specificity of HIFR-CEUS was 97%, the sensitivity 97%, the positive predictive value 94%, the negative predictive value 99% and the accuracy 97% . CONCLUSION: HIFR-CEUS has demonstrated has demonstrated an improved image quality resulting in a high diagnostic accuracy. In the hands of an experienced investigator, HiFR-CEUS allows the assessment of focal and diffuse unclear liver parenchymal changes on B-scan and dynamic assessment of microcirculation in solid and vascular changes.

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