Human pharmacokinetics of a perfluorocarbon ultrasound contrast agent evaluated with gas chromatography

The purpose of this study was to prospectively study the human pharmacokine tics of an ultrasound (US) contrast agent through its active ingredient, do decafluoropentane (DDFP), Expired air and blood samples were collected from 24 volunteers after IV administration from 0.01 to 0.1 mL/kg, They were an alyzed by a gas chromatographic method specially adapted to the study of DD FP, Blood data fitted to an open one-compartment model. Elimination half-li fe range was 1.8 to 2.5 min. The area under the curve was correlated to the dose (r(2) = 0.99), Mean blood clearance ranged from 30 to 49 mL/min kg, B lood apparent distribution volume ranged from 0.09 to 0.15 L/kg, In expired air, DDEP concentration exhibited a biexponential decay, The percentage of recovery was 98 +/- 19% at 2 h, No extraneous peaks were observed, indicat ing no detectable DDFP metabolites. It was concluded that DDFP pharmacokine tics in blood fitted to an open one-compartment model with a fast eliminati on half-life. Recovery in expired air was almost complete 2 h after adminis tration. (C) 2001 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology.