Background: The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved an ultrasound (US) contrast agent for intravenous and intravesical administration in children.
Objective: Survey the usage, interest in and barriers for contrast-enhanced US among pediatric radiologists.
Materials and methods: The Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Task Force of the Society for Pediatric Radiology (SPR) surveyed the membership of the SPR in January 2017 regarding their current use and opinions about contrast-enhanced US in pediatrics.
Results: The majority (51.1%, 166) of the 325 respondents (26.7% of 1,218) practice in either a university- or academic affiliated group. The most widely used US contrast agent was Lumason® 52.3% (23/44). While lack of expertise and training were reported barriers, all respondents who are not currently using US contrast agents are considering future use.
Conclusion: Interest in pediatric contrast US is very high. Education and training are needed to support members who plan to adopt contrast US into practice.
Keywords: Children; Contrast-enhanced ultrasound; Lumason; Microbubble contrast materials; Optison; Survey; Ultrasound.