Published in:
01-12-2010
Active gastrointestinal bleeding: evaluation with contrast-enhanced ultrasonography
Published in: Abdominal Radiology | Issue 6/2010
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Background and aims
Advances in contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) have made it possible to detect leakage of contrast medium. The aim of the present study was to prospectively evaluate the efficacy of CEUS for depiction of active gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding.
Subjects and methods
Eighty-nine patients (50 men and 39 women with a mean age of 68.6 years) who had evidence of GI bleeding were enrolled. After injection of Sonazoid, CEUS was performed for 2 min. Evidence of active GI bleeding was defined as positive when pooling or leakage of contrast medium was observed in the GI tract. Calculation of the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and the positive and negative likelihood ratio (LR) for depiction of active GI bleeding by CEUS was done by comparison with GI endoscopy.
Results
The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of CEUS for detection of active GI bleeding were 73.7% (95% CI: 48.8, 90.9), 97.1% (95% CI: 90.0, 99.7), 87.5% (95% CI: 61.7, 98.4), and 93.2% (95% CI: 84.7, 97.7), respectively. The positive LR and negative LR were 25.4 and 0.27, respectively.
Conclusions
CEUS is highly effective for the detection of active GI bleeding.