A new method to diagnose Zenker's diverticulum: Swallow contrast enhanced ultrasound

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of swallow contrast enhanced ultrasound (swallow-CEUS) to diagnose ZD. Patient and methods: Eight patients with ZD and five healthy volunteers were included. The patient was in a sitting or upright position and asked to swallow contrast agent (2 – 4 drops of SonoVue® diluted in 200 ml of tap water). The arrival of the contrast agent was imaged by contrast enhanced ultrasound. The retention of UCA in the diverticulum was monitored for at least 3 minutes. All patients underwent barium esophagram as gold standard. Swallow CEUS was also performed in five…