Cardiology Services has introduced the use of Definity, an ultrasound enhancing agent (UEA) to enhance its imaging capabilities.
Bendigo Health Sonographer Matthew Wall said where regular echocardiography may be non-diagnostic or ambiguous in certain situations Definity can make the diagnosis clear.
“It is especially useful for evaluation of left ventricular structure, function, the presence of thrombus (clot) or tumour,” he said.
Definity consists of tiny gas bubbles surrounded by fatty shells. It is injected into the bloodstream and when the bubbles reach the heart they vibrate with the ultrasound giving the machine strong signals that produce an image on the screen.
Matthew said that medical staff were happy with the UEA as it made diagnosis clearer and sonographers were excited to be able to provide greater clarity in imaging.
“Treatments can be altered with greater certainty, also giving imaging capabilities that is not often seen outside of metropolitan hospitals,” he said.
So far imaging with Definity had resulted in the discovery of clots in a patient’s heart chamber when regular imaging was not clear. It has also detected wall motion problems from an AMI (heart attack) which wasn’t seen on regular imaging and was able to assess heart function in a morbidly obese patient where regular imaging was non-diagnostic.
“As we are seeing an increase in BMI in the general population echocardiography is becoming increasingly difficult ultrasound imaging quality decreases with the increased penetration depth required,” Matthew said.
“This gives ambiguous results which requires more expensive tests to be ordered and slows results and ultimately treatment. Definity is helpful in this setting.
“With the opening of 24/7 catheter lab services we are seeing a lot of patients with STEMI. Definity is required for some to these patients to assess for complications that might otherwise not be seen.”