title: Stimulated acoustic emission to image a late liver and spleen-specific phase of Levovist in normal volunteers and patients with and without liver disease.
abstract: Quantitative studies were performed to investigate liver- specific uptake of the microbubble Levovist, using stimulated acoustic emission (SAE), which can detect microbubbles even when stationary or slow-moving. These comprised studies of biodistribution comparing the liver and kidney in five normal volunteers, reproducibility in 34 patients, comparison between cirrhotics and controls (n = 9 each) and maximal depth of effect at different frequencies (180 measurements in 31 patients). Stimulated acoustic emission lasted beyond 30 min, with strongly liver-specific properties in each volunteer and was highly reproducible. No difference in the amount of SAE in the superficial liver was seen between cirrhotic and normal livers, but attenuation was higher in cirrhotics. This demonstrates a frequency-dependent effect on liver SAE penetration. We conclude that the liver uptake of Levovist lasts over 30 min, is reproducible, occurs even where diffuse liver disease is present and can be used to assess tissue attenuation in a novel fashion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Imaging, Hammersmith Hospital, London, United Kingdom. m.blomley@rpms.ac.uk
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Blomley
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Albrecht
authors.forename: D O
authors.initials: DO
authors.lastname: Cosgrove
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Eckersley
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Butler-Barnes
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Jayaram
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Heckemann
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schlief
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003287:Contrast Media; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008099:Liver / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011134:Polysaccharides; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013154:Spleen / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014463:Ultrasonography
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D011134:Polysaccharides; C059891:SHU 508