RESUMO
BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to report the safety of perfluorobutane (Sonazoid) as a vascular-phase imaging agent in characterizing focal liver lesions (FLLs). MATERIALS AND METHODS: From May 2014 to April 2015, a total of 54 individuals who received Sonazoid contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) were enrolled at 5 hospitals of 4 medical centers. All individuals were included in safety evaluation. A prospective study to evaluate the adverse effect (AE) incidences after intravenous administration of Sonazoid. RESULTS: Sonazoid was well tolerated. Treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) representing AE were recorded for 13 (24.1%) patients. The most common AE was abdominal pain (9.3%), followed by heart rate irregularity (5.6%). The majority of these patients (69.2%) experienced TEAEs that were mild in intensity. Sonazoid causes no significant AEs after intravenous injection. The only noteworthy AEs are related to tolerable myalgia (3.7%), abdominal pain (1.9%), and headache (1.9%). None of the 54 patients showed serious adverse effects. CONCLUSION: Sonazoid shows good safety and tolerance of intravenous use during CEUS of the liver for evaluation of FLLs.
RESUMO
We designed a population-based retrospective cohort study to investigate the association between the event of alcohol intoxication and the risk of pyogenic liver abscess. The present study enrolled 245,076 patients with a history of alcohol intoxication from 2000 to 2010 and matched each of them with four comparison patients, with similar mean age and sex ratios. We determined the cumulative incidences and adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) of liver abscess. A significant association was observed between alcohol intoxication and liver abscess. The incidence density rate of liver abscess was 3.47-fold greater in the alcohol intoxication (AI) cohort than in the non-AI cohort (12.2 vs. 3.43 per 10,000 person-years), with an adjusted HR (aHR) of 2.64 (95% CI = 2.26 to 3.08). This population-based study positively associated the event of alcohol intoxication with increased risk of liver abscess. Our findings warrant further large-scale and in-depth investigations in this area.