In pediatrics ultrasound has long been viewed more favorably than imaging that exposes patients to radiation and iodinated contrast or requires sedation. It is child-friendly and diagnostic capabilities have been improved with the advent of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS). The application of CEUS is indeed promising. However, no ultrasound contrast agent manufactured today is registered for pediatric use in Europe. The contrast agent SonoVue? has recently been approved by the FDA under the name of Lumason? to be used in hepatic investigations in adults and children. This article reviews the literature with respect to 2 specific applications of CEUS in children: 1) identification of parenchymal injuries following blunt abdominal trauma, and 2) classification of focal liver lesions. Applications were chosen through the CEUS guidelines published by the European Federation of Societies for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology and World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology. Literature was obtained by searching Medline and Pubmed Central (using Pubmed), Scopus database and Embase. CEUS proved to be an effective investigation in the hemodynamically stable child for identifying parenchymal injuries and for the characterization of focal liver lesions. CEUS showed comparable performance to CT and MRI with a specificity of 98% for identifying benign lesions and a negative predictive value of 100%. For the applications reviewed here, CEUS holds promising perspectives and can help reduce radiation exposure and use of iodinated contrast agents in pediatrics, thereby potentially reducing complications in routine imaging.

Background and aimsFunctional outcome following mechanical thrombectomy (MT) in patients with acute ischemic stroke and large vessel occlusion is time-dependent and worsens with increasing delay. Time to endovascular reperfusion is potentially modifiable with changes in organizational structure. We investigated the changes in time to reperfusion of relocating the intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) services from a non-MT center to a MT-capable center.MethodsWe present an observational, consecutive, retrospective, single-center cohort study of 253 stroke patients treated with MT, 2017–2019. The observation period was divided into before and after the relocation of IVT services in 2018, period 1 and period 2, respectively. The two hospitals were located 13 km apart in an urban area, and following the relocation, IVT was administered at the MT-capable center. Time metrics were registered and divided into two main intervals, namely, ambulance departure from stroke onset location to imaging (ambulance-imaging) and imaging to reperfusion (imaging-reperfusion). The interval imaging-reperfusion included inter-hospital transfer to the MT-capable center in period 1. The association of the imaging-reperfusion duration and functional outcome at 90 days was analyzed using ordinal logistic regression.ResultsNo significant change in ambulance-imaging was observed from a median of 27 min (interquartile range [IQR] 22–37) in period 1 to 30 min (IQR 23–40) in period 2, p = 0.19, while the median time of imaging-reperfusion decreased from 173 min (IQR 137–230) to 114 min (IQR 84–152), p < 0.001. The largest absolute time reduction from imaging to reperfusion was seen from imaging to arrival at the angio suite from 89 min (IQR 76–111) to 42 min (IQR 28–63), p < 0.001, which included inter-hospital transfer in period 1. In multivariate analysis, every 10 min of increased delay from imaging to reperfusion was associated with poorer functional outcome with an adjusted odds ratio of 0.95 (95% CI: 0.95–0.98), p < 0.001.ConclusionRelocation of IVT services to an MT-capable center was the main cause of reduced time to reperfusion for patients treated with MT and was implemented without affecting prehospital transportation time. These results suggest that patient outcome can be improved by optimizing the organization of IVT and MT services in urban areas.

Background Stroke patients ≥80 years constituted only 15% in randomised trials on mechanical thrombectomy (MT), but is a considerable higher proportion in clinical practice. Association of clinical variables collected before MT with functional outcome has not been independently described in these patients, while being important in the decision of patient eligibility for MT. Methods We included patients consecutively at a single centre (2017–2021) categorised as octogenarians (age: 80–89 years) or nonagenarians (age: 90–99 years). Functional outcome at 90 days was defined as fair (modified Rankin Scale (mRS) 0–3) or poor (mRS 4–6). Clinical variables collected before MT were analysed for association with shift of mRS in a poor direction. Significant predictors were used to produce a risk score of fair outcome. Significance was set at the p < 0.05 level. Results Nonagenarians (n = 43, 15.5%) compared to octogenarians (n = 235, 84.5%) less likely achieved fair outcome (20.9% vs. 46.0%, p < 0.01) with higher mortality (65.1% vs. 31.9%, p < 0.01). Significant predictors of outcome were: age, adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 0.91 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.86–0.97); pre-stroke mRS, aOR = 0.57 (95% CI: 0.44–0.73); National Institute of Health Stroke Scale at admission, aOR = 0.91 (95% CI: 0.87–0.95); Alberta Stroke Program Early Computed Tomography, aOR = 1.23 (95% CI: 1.05–1.45). After bootstrap validation, the area under the curve of the risk score was 0.74 and the optimal cut-off for fair outcome was a score of >7 points. Conclusions One in two octogenarians achieved fair outcome, however, only one in five nonagenarians had fair outcome. The clinical risk score could be considered as guidance when deciding patient eligibility for MT.