ULTRASOUND CONTRAST-MEDIA AND THEIR USE IN OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY

Contrast media have gained acceptance to enhance ultrasonography in ma ny fields of medicine; in particular, cardiology, Several agents have been described and many more are being manufactured and tested, By inc reasing the number of strong sound scatterers, these agents improve im ages by increasing the amount of echoes, This is true both for grey-sc ale and color or Doppler imaging, Their use in obstetrics is very limi ted at the moment because of safety issues, In a laboratory setup, the y have been shown to markedly enhance placental imaging, In gynecology , imaging of the uterine cavity and Fallopian tubes is greatly improve d. A potential area where ultrasound contrast may find a role is gynec ological oncology, Vascularity is increased in many tumors, but usuall y vessel diameter is small and velocity low, One can therefore expect future use of the ultrasound contrast agents in ovarian or other gynec ological neoplasms. (C) 1997 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medici ne & Biology.