Cyclosporine A does not alter ultrasonic indices of renal blood flow: a potential tool for differentiating toxicity from acute rejection?

The narrow therapeutic window of cyclosporine A (CsA) means its use is controlled by pharmacokinetic monitoring. However, pharmacokinetics do not always reflect the functional effects of a drug--its pharmacodynamics, such as vasoconstriction. We developed a technique for measuring renal blood flow and used a pig model to determine whether CsA-induced renal vasoconstriction could be detected, thus offering a tool for pharmacodynamic therapeutic drug monitoring.

Improved characterization of liver lesions with liver-phase uptake of liver-specific microbubbles: prospective multicenter study.

Purpose: To evaluate in a prospective multicenter study whether conventional ultrasonographic (US) characterization of liver lesions can be improved by imaging during the liver-specific phase of SH U 508A uptake in the microbubble-specific agent detection imaging mode.

Materials And Methods: One hundred forty-two patients with liver lesions underwent conventional gray-scale and color Doppler US and SH U 508A-enhanced US. Two radiologists blindly read digital cine clips and assigned scores for confidence in diagnosis of benignancy or malignancy, diagnosis of specific lesion types, and relative difference in SH U 508A uptake between the lesion and the liver parenchyma (ie, subjective conspicuity score [SCS]).