This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on Web of Science (6)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • Cardiovascular System  • Radiologic Imaging  • Echocardiography  • Drug Therapy  • Adverse Effects  • Cardiac Diagnostic Tests  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

To the Editor: Perflutren cardiac ultrasound agents improve diagnostic accuracy in patients whose imaging is technically difficult.¹ In October 2007, the US Food and Drug Administration issued a health care provider advisory² ("black box warning") regarding use of Definity (perflutren lipid microsphere: formerly Bristol-Myers Squibb Medical Imaging, New York, New York; now Lantheus Medical Imaging, North Billerica, Massachusetts) and Optison (perflutren protein-type A microspheres for injection; GE Healthcare, Princeton, New Jersey). These agents are now contraindicated in patients for whom their clinical use is considerable: those with unstable congestive heart failure, acute coronary syndrome, respiratory failure, and severe emphysema. The advisory was prompted by identification of 4 fatalities secondary to cardiopulmonary events within 30 minutes of perflutren administration and 11 fatalities overall within 12 hours of administration.²

Methods

The echocardiography database at Hennepin County Medical Center (Minneapolis, Minnesota), begun in March 1986, comprises 112 776 echocardiographic studies and includes data on use . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Charles A. Herzog, MD
cherzog@cdrg.org
Echocardiography Laboratory
Hennepin County Medical Center
Minneapolis, Minnesota

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Safety of Contrast Agent Use During Stress Echocardiography: A 4-Year Experience From a Single-Center Cohort Study of 26,774 Patients
Abdelmoneim et al.
J Am Coll Cardiol Img 2009;2:1048-1056.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Ultrasound Contrast Agent Safety: From Anecdote to Evidence
Main
J Am Coll Cardiol Img 2009;2:1057-1059.
FULL TEXT  

Overview of the 2008 Food and Drug Administration Advisory Committee on Safety Considerations in the Development of Ultrasound Contrast Agents
Asch and Weissman
Circulation 2009;119:1956-1961.
FULL TEXT