NEUROVASCULAR APPLICATIONS OF ULTRASOUND CONTRAST AGENTS

Ultrasound is widely used in the assessment of neurovascular diseases. In spite of its effectiveness there are considerable limitations such as low flow detection in carotid disease or limited bony windows in t ranscranial Doppler. One approach to overcome these limitations is the use of ultrasound contrast enhancing agents. The usefulness of ultras ound contrast enhancing agents Levovist(R), EchoGen(R) and BY 963 in n eurovascular applications has been evaluated. Contrast enhanced colour flow Doppler for the diagnosis of carotid disease has been investigate d in three small trials and might be effective for improving the diagn ostic yield in severe disease. Contrast enhanced transcranial colourfl ow Doppler has been relatively more widely explored also with promisin g results. Based on the combined findings out of these preliminary inv estigational trials, it appears to be reasonable to undertake larger t rials for assessment of usefulness of ultrasound contrast agents for a variety of neurovascular applications.