Safety of SF₆(SonoVue^®) Contrast Agent on Pharmacological Stress Echocardiogram

Abstract

Background  In 2007, the United States Food and Drug Administration mandated safety reviews of commercially available echocardiographic contrast agents (ECA), following reports of death. During the past years, different studies have proven the safety of ECA, but there have been few studies on SonoVue®.

Objectives  To evaluate the safety of SonoVue® during pharmacological stress echocardiography (PSE), by analyzing the incidence of allergic reactions and comparing groups regarding the appearance of arrhythmia, minor side effects and adverse events.

Methods  In this observational, prospective study, 2346 patients underwent PSE, and they were divided into the following 2 groups: group 1 with ECA (n = 1099) and group 2 without ECA (n = 1247). Patients were evaluated during PSE, at 24 hours, and at 30 days. Statistical significance was defined as p < 0.05.

Results  Group 1 had fewer minor side effects, such as headache (5/0.5% versus 19/1.5%, p = 0.012) and less reactive hypertension (3/0.3% versus 19/1.5%, p = 0.002); fewer arrhythmias, such as ventricular extrasystoles (180/16.4% versus 247/19.8%, p = 0.032) and paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (2/0.2% versus 15/1.2%, p = 0.003); and no adverse events, such as acute myocardial infarction (AMI) or death. In group 2, 1 patient had AMI in < 24 hours (1/01%), and there were 2 deaths in < 30 days (2/0.1%). SonoVue®-related urticaria was seen in 3 (0.3%) patients, without anaphylactic reaction.

Conclusion  SonoVue® demonstrated safety during PSE. No cases of death, AMI, or anaphylactic reaction were observed. There was a lower incidence of minor side effects and arrhythmias in the group that received ECA, as well as a low incidence of mild allergic reactions.

Stress Echocardiogram; Echocardiographic Contrast Agent; Sonovue^®; Safety