Bracco Diagnostics, subsidiary of contrast developer Bracco Imaging, is promoting the results of a new study demonstrating that its Lumason ultrasound contrast agent is safe to use with transthoracic echocardiography.
"The positive impact of ultrasound-enhancing agents is indisputable as they have significantly improved the quality and cost-effectiveness of cardiac clinical care, but these agents are underutilized by the clinical community due to concerns about potential allergic reactions," study author Dr. Stephen Heitner from Oregon Health & Science University said in a statement from Bracco.
In the prospective study, Heitner and colleagues determined the occurrence and severity of adverse events in approximately 5,000 patients who underwent an echocardiogram with one of the three ultrasound-enhancing agents approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA): Lumason (Bracco), Definity (Lantheus Medical Imaging), and Optison (GE Healthcare).
Overall, the incidence of adverse events for all patients was extremely low at 0.25%. The rate of adverse events for exams with Lumason (one case) was lower than with Definity (13 cases) by a significant margin. Zero cases were reported among the 78 exams with Optison. The findings were published online April 30 in Echocardiography.
