Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of swallow contrast enhanced ultrasound (swallow-CEUS) to diagnose ZD.
Patient and methods: Eight patients with ZD and five healthy volunteers were included. The patient was in a sitting or upright position and asked to swallow contrast agent (2 - 4 drops of SonoVue diluted in 200 ml of tap water). The arrival of the contrast agent was imaged by contrast enhanced ultrasound. The retention of UCA in the diverticulum was monitored for at least 3 minutes. All patients underwent barium esophagram as gold standard. Swallow CEUS was also performed in five healthy volunteers.
Results: Swallow-CEUS demonstrated clearly that the UCA was transported from the pharynx to the esophagus while the patient swallowed UCA. The ZD was typically shown as a pouch-shaped structure at the posterior pharyngoesophageal junction that retained UCA and lasted for more than 3 minutes. Barium esophagram confirmed the diagnosis of ZD. For the five volunteers, swallow CEUS demonstrated the transportation of UCA in the esophagus, no abnormal structure (retention of UCA) was shown during and after the swallowing of UCA.
Conclusion: Swallow-CEUS, with the advantages of real time, no radiation and bedside availability may become an additional method to barium esophagram for the diagnosis of ZD.
