Lantheus Holdings, the parent company of Lantheus Medical Imaging, is directing attention to new clinical data for its Definity ultrasound contrast agent being presented June 24 at the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) meeting in Portland, OR.
The researchers, led by Dr. Michael Main from Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, MO, examined the data of roughly 1.5 million intensive care unit (ICU) patients from 773 hospitals who underwent echocardiography either with or without Definity contrast.
They found that cardiac ultrasound enhanced with the Definity contrast agent, compared with no contrast, was associated with shorter length of stay in the ICU (4.15 days versus 4.59 days; p < 0.0001); lower rates of subsequent transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) (odds ratio of 0.704 for TTE and 0.841 for TEE; p<0.0001); and increased use of certain vasoactive medications, according to Lantheus.
"The use of contrast-enhanced echocardiography in obtaining accurate and interpretable images is critical in influencing patient diagnosis, treatment, and clinical outcomes," Main said in a statement.
![Examples of ultrasound findings and techniques. (A) Images in a 39-year-old male patient with a mass in the left thigh. The mass is heterogeneous on the B-mode US image (compared with the patient in D) and showed increased microvascularity (superb microvascular imaging [SMI]) and shear-wave elastography (SWE) values. Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy (with pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcoma in surgical specimen). (B) Images in an 18-year-old male patient with a mass in the left leg. The mass is hypoechoic on the B-mode image, with no other findings suggestive of malignancy. The lesion is in contact with the cortex of the tibia, which is slightly irregular. CT revealed a doubtful anteromedial tibial erosion. The microvascular study demonstrated high vascularization, suggestive of malignancy. Periosteal Ewing sarcoma was diagnosed with both histologic and immunohistochemical confirmation. (C) Images in a 69-year-old female patient with a lump growing on the outside of the left leg. Multiple SWE examinations were performed (please note the high values obtained in the measurements, whereas the color map highlights the stiffness relative to adjacent tissues). SMI showed areas of increased vascularization to target for sampling. Undifferentiated spindle cell sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with residual leiomyosarcoma in the surgical specimen after neoadjuvant therapy. (D) Images in a 56-year-old female patient with a mass in the right thigh. The mass is heterogeneous at both B-mode ultrasound (similar to patient A) and MRI (coronal T2-weighted spectral attenuated inversion recovery [SPAIR]; T1-weighted pre-contrast and postcontrast imaging), which even shows uptake after the administration of paramagnetic contrast material, which is traditionally suggestive of malignancy. Low values at SMI and elastography are suggestive of benignity. Spindle cell lipoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with atypical spindle cell lipomatous tumor in the surgical specimen.](https://img.auntminnie.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/08/images-radiol250278fig2.APCFLSvX6p.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&dpr=2&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)
