The AFSUMB Consensus Statements and Recommendations for the Clinical Practice of Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound using Sonazoid

Abstract

The first edition of the guidelines for the use of ultrasound contrast agents was published in 2004, dealing with liver applications. The second edition of the guidelines in 2008 reflected changes in the available contrast agents and updated the guidelines for the liver, as well as implementing some nonliver applications. The third edition of the contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) guidelines was the joint World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology-European Federation of Societies for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology (WFUMB-EFSUMB) venture in conjunction with other regional US societies such as Asian Federation of Societies for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, resulting in a simultaneous duplicate on liver CEUS in the official journals of both WFUMB and EFSUMB in 2013. However, no guidelines were described mainly for Sonazoid due to limited clinical experience only in Japan and Korea. The new proposed consensus statements and recommendations provide general advice on the use of Sonazoid and are intended to create standard protocols for the use and administration of Sonazoid in hepatic and pancreatobiliary applications in Asian patients and to improve patient management.

Intraprocedurally EOB-MRI/US fusion imaging focusing on hepatobiliary phase findings can help to reduce the recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma after radiofrequency ablation

“…Although the unique PVP of Sonazoid CEUS and the novel technology of re-injection in PVP play an important role in improving the diagnosis of HCC, PVP of Sonazoid CEUS still cannot avoid the shortcomings of US. That is, the parenchyma background of cirrhosis, intestinal gas, abundant fatty tissue, and depth, which can adversely affect the recognition of image details [25]. With respect to these findings, we concluded that when MVI and microsatellite foci exist, the real tumor scope in RFA performance might be underestimated by US/CEUS because a lack of sensitivity to detect the margin and peritumoral imaging.…”

“…The operation steps of contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) examination were in accordance with the guidelines of clinical practice of CEUS using Sonazoid [25]. In short, for patients assigned to use CEUS for RFA guidance, intraprocedurally CEUS with Sonazoid was performed.…”

Benefits of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography for interventional procedures

“…Europe in the near future due to its low rate of AEs (0.5% and 6.3%), its advantages regarding a stable time window of up to 60 minutes with a possible improvement of the whole-liver imaging quality and its advantages within the framework of liver intervention (32).…”

Clinical applications of Doppler ultrasonography for thyroid disease: consensus statement by the Korean Society of Thyroid Radiology

“…Additionally, contrast-enhanced US (CEUS) refers to the application of US contrast agents in medical US. CEUS can provide anatomic information with gray-scale US and physiologic information through the SDUS, CDUS, and PDUS techniques, making it indispensable in the assessment of vascular pathology [15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. The presence of a microbubble US contrast agent in the vasculature enhances the backscattering of US waves, resulting in a marked amplification of flow signals and providing information on the microvasculature [12,21,22].…”