The Use of Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound in Patients with GIST Metastases that are Negative in CT and PET

Introduction

In daily practice contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) has proven to be helpful for ultrasound-guided biopsy and as a predictor of tumor response to the tyrosine kinase inhibitor Imatinib (Lassau N et al. Gastrointestinal stromal tumors treated with Imatinib: monitoring response with contrast-enhanced sonography. AJR 2006; 187: 1267 – 1273) but guidelines have not introduced ultrasound techniques that are equally useful for the diagnosis and follow-up of gastrointestinal stromal tumors.