Shortage of perflutren lipid microspheres

The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists reports a shortage of perflutren lipid microspheres. This drug, brand name Definity, is perflutren gas enclosed in microspheres made of phosphatidylcholine and egg albumen. It is sometimes administered intravenously to improve the ability to see details when performing an ultrasound of the left ventricle of the heart (echocardiogram). There are excellent reasons not to use Definity at all, as given in this FDA notice. Lantheus cites manufacturing delays as the reason for the shortage and states that Ben Venue makes this product for them on contract. This leads to speculation that this shortage is one of many caused by the voluntary shutdown of a Ben Venue plant some months ago.

There is a similar product, Optison, made by GE which contains human albumen. Obviously this is good for people who are known to be allergic to egg proteins, but it is also bad in that human blood products such as albumen may spread viral diseases such as HIV. The ASHP provides a detailed comparison of the two products in this table. Also note the updated warnings added to the information sheet for Definity. The 2008 warnings in the FDA notice above apply to Optison as well.