Perflutren: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Perflutren is a medicine sold in the U.S. under 2 brand and generic names. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Available as
- Injectable
- Sold as
- 2 products — Definity and Definity Rt
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Not in our catalog
- Boxed warning
- Boxed warning
How perflutren is dosed
From the FDA label for Definity (application NDA021064). Other perflutren products — different forms, different strengths — are dosed differently. Follow the label for the one you were prescribed.
Adult Patients Bolus: 10 microL/kg intravenously over 30 seconds to 60 seconds followed by a 10 mL flush of 0.9% Sodium Chloride Injection. Infusion: 1.3 mL added to 50 mL of 0.9% Sodium Chloride Injection intravenously starting at 4 mL/minute, titrating as necessary, not to exceed 10 mL/minutes. The maximum dose is two bolus doses 30 minute apart or one single infusion. ( 2.2 ) Pediatric Patients Bolus: 3 microL/kg over 30 seconds to 60 seconds by intravenous bolus injection followed by a 5 mL flush of 0.9% Sodium Chloride Injection. The maximum dose is two bolus doses 30 minute apart. ( 2.3 ) See Full Prescribing Information for imaging instructions and preparation ( 2.4 , 2.5 ). 2.1 Important Preparation and Administration Instructions There are two formulations, DEFINITY and DEFINITY RT, that have differences in preparation and storage. Ensure of the correct product when following the directions for preparation and storage. DEFINITY RT must be activated using the VIALMIX RFID device and diluted before administration according to the instructions outlined below [see Dosage and Administration (2.5) ] . DEFINITY RT is for intravenous use only and must not be administered by intra-arterial injection [see Warnings and Precautions (5.3) ] . For adult patients, DEFINITY RT can be administered by either an intravenous bolus or infusion. The maximum dose is either two bolus doses…
Perflutren side effects
The following serious adverse reactions are described elsewhere in the labeling: Serious Cardiopulmonary Reactions [see Warnings and Precautions (5.1) ] Hypersensitivity Reactions [see Warnings and Precautions (5.2) ] Pain Episodes in Patients with Sickle Cell Disease [see Warnings and Precautions (5.5) ] The most common adverse reactions (≥0.5%) are headache, back/renal pain, flushing, nausea, chest pain, injection site reactions, and dizziness. ( 6 ) To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact Lantheus Medical Imaging, Inc. at 1-800-362-2668 or FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch. 6.1 Clinical Trials Experience Because clinical trials are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in the clinical trials of a drug cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical trials of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in practice. Adverse Reactions in Adults Safety of DEFINITY RT was evaluated in a total of 1,716 adult subjects who received DEFINITY, another formulation of perflutren lipid microspheres, in pre-market clinical trials. In this group, 1,063 (62%) were male and 653 (38%) were female, 1,328 (77%) were White, 258 (15%) were Black or African American, 74 (4%) were Hispanic, and 56 (3%) were classified as other racial or ethnic groups. The mean age was 56 years (range 18 to 93). Among the 1,716 subjects, 19 (1.1%)…
Who shouldn’t take perflutren
DEFINTY RT is contraindicated in patients with known or suspected hypersensitivity to Perflutren lipid microsphere or its components, such as polyethylene glycol (PEG) [see Warnings and Precautions (5.2) and Description (11) ]. Known or suspected hypersensitivity to perflutren lipid microsphere or its Components, such as polyethylene glycol (PEG) ( 4 )
Every perflutren product we track (2)
Same active ingredient — different manufacturer, form, price and FDA recall record. That last one is what our independent score measures.
| # | Drug | Rating | Type | Form | Generic? | Pharmacy pays | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Not yet rated | Prescription | Injectable | No data | — | View → | |
| 2 | Not yet rated | Prescription | Injectable | No data | — | View → |
How long perflutren keeps
No perflutren label we read sets a separate limit for after opening, but they do specify how it must be stored — and the stability behind any date assumes those conditions.
Does perflutren expire? The in-use limits and storage rules from its labelsPerflutren and breastfeeding
From LactMed, the US National Library of Medicine’s Drugs and Lactation Database — quoted, not rewritten.
Full LactMed record for perflutren: levels in milk, effects in breastfed infants, and the drugs it would consider insteadNo information is available on the clinical use of perflutren during breastfeeding. Because of the extremely short elimination half-life of perflutren (<2 minutes) from the body, use of perflutren either as albumin microspheres or lipid microspheres is acceptable in nursing mothers. Because of the lack of information, the American College of Radiology states that temporary (~24 hours) pumping and discarding of milk may be considered. However, this recommendation appears to be excessively cautious.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, record revised December 15, 2025. LactMed states its information is not a substitute for professional judgement.
What people report to the FDA about perflutren
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 160 reports naming perflutren, and the FDA flagged 83% of those reports as serious. The effects reported most often — leaving out reports about overdose, misuse or the condition being treated, which dominate the raw list for common medicines:
- back pain36 reports
- dyspnoea14 reports
- contrast media reaction13 reports
- anaphylactic reaction12 reports
- cardio-respiratory arrest11 reports
- hypotension11 reports
- chest pain9 reports
- headache8 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean perflutren caused the effect — anyone can file one, and many describe people taking several medicines for several conditions. Crucially there is no denominator: FAERS does not record how many people took the drug, so these counts cannot be turned into “X% of patients” — a bigger number often just means a more widely used or more talked-about drug. Duplicates exist, and publicity drives reporting. For what is actually established, read the FDA label section above.
Source: openFDA drug/event (FAERS), retrieved August 25, 2026.
Related calculators
Frequently asked questions
What is perflutren?
DEFINITY RT (perflutren lipid microsphere) injectable suspension is, after activation, an ultrasound contrast agent for intravenous use. The perflutren lipid microspheres are composed of perflutren encapsulated in an outer lipid shell consisting of (R) – hexadecanoic acid, 1-[(phosphonoxy)methyl]-1,2-ethanediyl ester, monosodium salt (abbreviated DPPA); (R) - 4-hydroxy-N,N,N-trimethyl-10-oxo-7-[(1-oxohexadecyl)oxy]-3,4,9-trioxa-4-phosphapentacosan-1-aminium, 4-oxide, inner salt (abbreviated DPPC); and (R)- ∝-[6-hydroxy-6-oxido-9-[(1-oxohexadecyl)oxy]-5,7,11-trioxa-2-aza-6-phosphahexacos-1-yl]- ω-methoxypoly(ox-1,2-ethanediyl), monosodium salt; commonly called N-( m ethoxy p oly e thylene g lycol 5000 carbamoyl)-1,2- d i p almitoyl-sn-glycero-3- p hosphatidyl e thanolamine, monosodium salt (abbreviated MPEG5000 DPPE).
Can you take perflutren with other medicines?
It depends on the medicine. We check it against the FDA labels rather than guessing: our interaction checker searches each drug's own label for the other and quotes what it says, naming the section it came from. Run perflutren against whatever else you take — and remember that a label not naming a drug is not the same as that combination being safe.
What brand names is perflutren sold under?
We track 2 perflutren-containing products in the U.S.: Definity and Definity Rt. They are the same active ingredient; they differ in form, manufacturer, price and FDA recall record.
What forms does perflutren come in?
Across the brands we track, perflutren is currently marketed as injectable, per the FDA's National Drug Code Directory. Each form is dosed differently — follow the label for the exact product you were prescribed.
Is there a generic perflutren?
We do not currently list a generic-labelled perflutren product. That does not always mean none exists — it means none appears under a generic name in the FDA data we track. Ask your pharmacist.
Cite this page
- APA
- pharmaranks. (2026, July 24). Perflutren: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/perflutren
- MLA
- “Perflutren: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/perflutren.
We summarise public FDA and NIH sources — for a clinical claim, cite the primary source we link to as well.
Sources: FDA openFDA drug label, National Drug Code Directory, and Enforcement (recall) database. This page reproduces public FDA data and is not medical advice. Dosing is set by your prescriber.
Read the full FDA label for perflutren on DailyMed (NIH) ↗ — including its boxed warning in full.