GE relaunches Optison ultrasound contrast agent in Europe

20 September 2011

GE Healthcare’s Medical Diagnostics division has announced the market reintroduction of Optison (Perflutren protein-yype A microspheres injectable suspension, USP), a diagnostic ultrasound contrast agent for use in select echocardiograms, in Europe.

The product is currently available in Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, the Nordic countries and the UK with other countries planned to follow in the near future. Optison is indicated for use in patients with suboptimal echocardiograms with suspected or established cardiovascular disease to provide opacification of cardiac chambers, enhance left ventricular endocardial border delineation with resulting improvement in wall motion visualisation.

"We are pleased that Optison is now available to cardiologists, sonography professionals, echocardiography laboratory staff, and most importantly patients,” said Debra Leeves, EMEA Marketing Leader for Medical Diagnostics in GE Healthcare. “The product helps improve the detection of heart disease by converting difficult-to-interpret echocardiograms into clearer visualisations of the heart’s left ventricle.”

“We are excited about the reintroduction of Optison because it helps physicians obtain clear diagnostic cardiac ultrasound images from patients who are difficult to image,” said Petros Nihoyannopoulos, MD, Professor of Cardiology at Imperial College London and Vice President of the International Contrast Ultrasound Society. “Failure to use contrast in patients with suboptimal images, particularly with regard to the cardiac apex and during stress, may lead to misdiagnosis or require additional diagnostic testing that could carry greater risks.”

Source: GE