ECHO-ENHANCED ULTRASOUND – A NEW VALID INITIAL IMAGING APPROACH FOR SEVERE ACUTE PANCREATITIS

Purpose: This prospective study aimed to compare the accuracy of echo-enhanced ultrasound (US) with spiral computed tomography (CT) in assessing acute pancreatitis and to explore the correlation between US findings and clinical outcome. Methods and Materials: Thirty-one patients (24 men and 7 women, median age 39 years, range 19–67 years) with acute pancreatitis were investigated by contrast-enhanced CT and echo-enhanced US within 72 hours after admission. Echo-enhanced US (with intravenous injection of 2.4 mL SonoVue®, pulse inversion technique, mechanical index 0.1 to 0.2, Siemens Elegra) was performed followi…