ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT07335315Updated Jan 13, 2026

Evaluation of Intraoperative Contrast Enhanced Ultrasound for the Identification of Pituitary Adenoma in Cushing's Disease Compared to Other Pituitary Tumors

An observational study in Pituitary Adenoma and Cushing Disease, sponsored by Mayo Clinic. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-01-13.

Sponsored by Mayo Clinic · Observational

From the registry’s dates

  • Started Jun 2024; still recruiting 2 years 4 months later.
Study type
Observational
Model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
110
Sex
All
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Study summary

This pilot and feasibility study aims to combine recent advances in ultrasound imaging, specifically an endonasal transducer array and contrast enhanced ultrasound, to offer an intraoperative image-guided solution for lesion-specific surgical resection to impact clinical outcome. Should this imaging approach help isolate specific lesions and prevent surgical resection of normal pituitary tissue in this first-in-humans study, then the results will provide clinical data for a much larger multi-center clinical trial.

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Conditions studied

  • Pituitary Adenoma
  • Cushing Disease
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In context

Pituitary Neoplasms

200 studies on the registry are indexed under Pituitary Neoplasms; 51 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 110 is below the median of 163 across 74 observational studies indexed under Pituitary Neoplasms.

Browse Pituitary Neoplasms studies →

Lead sponsor

Mayo Clinic is the lead sponsor of 3,269 studies on the registry; 672 are open to participants now.

Of its 452 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 321 (71%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
Child (0–17), Adult (18–64), Older adult (65+)
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No
Sampling method
Non-probability sample

Study population

Patients with a pituitary adenoma or lesion that will undergo transnasal surgery

Eligibility criteria

For Contrast Based Protocol:

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Diagnosis of Cushing disease or required resection for non-corticotroph adenomas
  • Agree to transsphenoidal resection.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients who are unable to consent (or if their legal guardian/representative decline to consent)
  • Patients who have known or suspected to microbubble contrast agents or its components such as polyethylene glycol (PEG).
  • Women of with a positive pregnancy test prior to procedure.
  • Patients who have right to left, bi-directional, or transient right to left cardiac shunts.
  • Patients who have hypersensitivity to perflutren.

For Non-Contrast Based Protocol:

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients undergoing any pituitary surgery with the study designated neurosurgeons.
  • Patients whose procedures require the use of an intra-operative BK ultrasound without contrast.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients who are unable to consent (or if their legal guardian/representative decline to consent)
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(2)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Hypersensitivity

An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.

Childbearing potential

Able to become pregnant: from the first period until menopause, unless permanently unable to through surgery (removal of the womb, or of both ovaries or both fallopian tubes).

Criteria for people of childbearing potential usually ask for a negative pregnancy test and for contraception during the study and for a time after it.

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Study design

Observational model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
110 participants (estimated)
Target follow-up
6 Months
Patient registry
Yes

Groups and cohorts

  • Contrast

    Patients who are scheduled for transsphenoidal surgical resection for Cushing disease or transsphenoidal resection for non-corticotroph adenomas.

    Diagnostic Test: Contrast enhanced pituitary magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) · Diagnostic Test: Contrast enhanced ultrasound

  • Non-Contrast

    Patients who are scheduled for a pituitary surgical procedure requiring an intra-operative ultrasound without contrast.

    Diagnostic Test: Non-Contrast Ultrasound

Interventions

  • Diagnostic testContrast enhanced pituitary magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

    Pre-operative contrast enhanced pituitary MRI and non-contrast intraoperative ultrasound.

  • Diagnostic testContrast enhanced ultrasound

    Contrast enhanced intraoperative ultrasound imaging with Definity microbubbles that will be activated per the manufacturer specification and administered as a bolus of 0.2 mL of perflutren lipid microsphere intravenously followed by a 10 mL flush of saline. The pituitary will be imaged in the transverse plane for 2 minutes following this bolus. A repeat injection of the same ultrasound contrast dose and saline flush will be performed, and the pituitary will be imaged in the sagittal plane for 2 minutes.

  • Diagnostic testNon-Contrast Ultrasound

    Intra-operative ultrasound without contrast for pituitary adenomas and MRI

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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Scoring of non-contrast ultrasound images

    Non-contrast ultrasound images will be evaluated by a board certified neuroradiologists with experience reviewing pituitary imaging. The ultrasound images will be scored on the identification, size, location, echogenicity, and enhancement of any potential pituitary lesions as well as a confidence level in identifying the adenoma (1-5 Likert scale) with 1 being non-diagnostic/poor and 5 being excellent/diagnostic quality.

    Time frame: Baseline

  2. Scoring of contrast-enhanced ultrasound images

    Contrast-enhanced ultrasound images will be evaluated by a board certified neuroradiologists with experience reviewing pituitary imaging. The ultrasound images will be scored on the identification, size, location, echogenicity, and enhancement of any potential pituitary lesions as well as a confidence level in identifying the adenoma (1-5 Likert scale) with 1 being non-diagnostic/poor and 5 being excellent/diagnostic quality.

    Time frame: Baseline

  3. Scoring of pituitary MRI images

    Preoperative Research Pituitary MRI images will be evaluated by a board certified neuroradiologists with experience reviewing pituitary imaging. The MRI images will be scored on the identification, size, location, echogenicity, and enhancement of any potential pituitary lesions as well as a confidence level in identifying the adenoma (1-5 Likert scale) with 1 being non-diagnostic/poor and 5 being excellent/diagnostic quality.

    Time frame: Baseline

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Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
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References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jan 13, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07335315
Lead sponsor
Mayo Clinic
Collaborators
American Society of Head and Neck Radiology, GE Healthcare, Lantheus Medical Imaging
Responsible party
Ian T. Mark (Principal Investigator, Mayo Clinic) — Principal investigator
First posted
Jan 13, 2026
Start date
Jun 19, 2024
Primary completion
Jan 2027 (estimated)
Completion
Jan 2027 (estimated)
Last update
Jan 13, 2026

Study contacts

Neurologic Surgery Research Department
Contact
Riess.Lesley@mayo.edu
507-293-7354
Ian Mark, MD
Contact
507-284-3211 ext. 61206
Ian Mark, MD
principal investigator · Mayo Clinic

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
Yes
FDA-regulated device
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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