Contrast-enhanced ultrasound may avert prostate biopsies

A protocol involving contrast-enhanced ultrasound could better target tumors and reduce the number of unnecessary prostate biopsies, according to international researchers. In studies from China and Austria, investigators imaged patients with contrast ultrasound and used the information to target biopsies. They found generally that contrast ultrasound provided more precise locational information than is available with unenhanced grayscale ultrasound. Biopsies based on the contrast scans resulted in a sensitivity of 85.2%, according to the group from the Medical University of Innsbruck (European Congress of Radiology 2009 abstract C-390).

A group at Shanghai’s Jio Tong University used microflow imaging and found a sensitivity of 80% and an accuracy of 83% for this contrast strategy. However, limitations included cost and training (abstract C-391).