Paratore M, Garcovich M, Ainora ME, Riccardi L, Gasbarrini A, Zocco MA. Dynamic contrast enhanced ultrasound in gastrointestinal diseases: A current trend or an indispensable tool? World J Gastroenterol 2023; 29(25): 4021-4035 [PMID: 37476588 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v29.i25.4021]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Matteo Garcovich, MD, PhD, Research Scientist, Staff Physician, Medicina Interna e Gastroenterologia, CEMAD Digestive Disease Center, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Largo A. Gemelli 8, Rome 00168, Italy. matteogarcovich@yahoo.it
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Minireviews
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastroenterol. Jul 7, 2023; 29(25): 4021-4035 Published online Jul 7, 2023. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v29.i25.4021
Dynamic contrast enhanced ultrasound in gastrointestinal diseases: A current trend or an indispensable tool?
Mattia Paratore, Matteo Garcovich, Maria Elena Ainora, Laura Riccardi, Antonio Gasbarrini, Maria Assunta Zocco
Mattia Paratore, Matteo Garcovich, Maria Elena Ainora, Laura Riccardi, Medicina Interna e Gastroenterologia, CEMAD Digestive Disease Center, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome 00168, Italy
Antonio Gasbarrini, Maria Assunta Zocco, Medicina Interna e Gastroenterologia, CEMAD Digestive Disease Center, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome 00168, Italy
Author contributions: Paratore M, Garcovich M and Zocco MA contributed to conceptualization, review of the literature and collection of data, writing first draft, review and editing; Ainora ME, Riccardi L and Gasbarrini A contributed to conceptualization, supervision, review, and editing; all authors revised the manuscript critically for intellectual content and have approved the final version.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Authors declare no conflict of interests for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Matteo Garcovich, MD, PhD, Research Scientist, Staff Physician, Medicina Interna e Gastroenterologia, CEMAD Digestive Disease Center, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Largo A. Gemelli 8, Rome 00168, Italy. matteogarcovich@yahoo.it
Received: March 26, 2023 Peer-review started: March 26, 2023 First decision: May 13, 2023 Revised: May 24, 2023 Accepted: June 5, 2023 Article in press: June 5, 2023 Published online: July 7, 2023
Abstract
Contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) has been widely implemented in clinical practice because of the enormous quantity of information it provides, along with its low cost, reproducibility, minimal invasiveness, and safety of the second-generation ultrasound contrast agents. To overcome the limitation of CEUS given by the subjective evaluation of the contrast enhancement behaviour, quantitative analysis of contrast kinetics with generation of time-intensity curves has been introduced in recent years. The quantification of perfusion parameters [named as dynamic-CEUS (D-CEUS)] has several applications in gastrointestinal neoplastic and inflammatory disorders. However, the limited availability of large studies and the heterogeneity of the technologies employed have precluded the standardisation of D-CEUS, which potentially represents a valuable tool for clinical practice in management of gastrointestinal diseases. In this article, we reviewed the evidence exploring the application of D-CEUS in gastrointestinal diseases, with a special focus on liver, pancreas, and inflammatory bowel diseases.
Core Tip: Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) has been widely implemented in clinical practice in recent years. Despite its several advantages, the qualitative evaluation of this exam and the lack of objectivity could lead to variability between different operators and ultrasound equipments. Dynamic-CEUS (D-CEUS) with the measurement of perfusion parameters is aimed at overcoming this important limitation. The purpose of this review is to explore the usefulness of D-CEUS in gastroenterological diseases.
