Definity and Death - a phase IV clinical study of FDA data

Summary:

Death is reported as a side effect among people who take Definity (perflutren), especially for people who are male, 60+ old, have been taking the drug for < 1 month also take Lasix, and have Atrial fibrillation/flutter.

The study is created by eHealthMe based on reports of 4,852 people who have side effects when taking Definity from the FDA, and is updated regularly.

What is Definity?

Definity has active ingredients of perflutren. eHealthMe is studying from 4,853 Definity users. Check the latest studies of Definity.

On Dec, 09, 2025

4,852 people reported to have side effects when taking Definity.
Among them, 39 people (0.8%) died.

Among these 39 people:

How long have people been on Definity when they died? *

What is the gender of people who died when taking Definity? *

female: 24.24 %
male: 75.76 %

What is the age of people who died when taking Definity? *

What are other drugs people take besides Definity? *

What are other side effects people have before they died? *

Cardiac Arrest: 10 people, 25.64%
Ventricular Fibrillation (abnormally irregular heart rhythm): 6 people, 15.38%
Loss Of Consciousness: 5 people, 12.82%
Hypotension (abnormally low blood pressure): 4 people, 10.26%
Anaphylaxis (serious allergic reaction that is rapid in onset and may cause death): 3 people, 7.69%
Dyspnea (difficult or laboured breathing): 3 people, 7.69%
Cardio-Respiratory Arrest (sudden dysfunction of heart and lungs): 2 people, 5.13%
Infusion Related Reaction: 2 people, 5.13%
Unresponsive To Stimuli: 2 people, 5.13%
Back Pain: 2 people, 5.13%

What are the existing conditions these people have? *

Sarcoidosis (an inflammatory disease that affects multiple organs in the body, but mostly the lungs and lymph glands): 2 people, 5.13%
Atrial Fibrillation/flutter (atrial fibrillation and flutter are abnormal heart rhythms in which the atria, or upper chambers of the heart, are out of sync with the ventricles): 2 people, 5.13%
Wheezing (a high-pitched whistling sound made while you breath): 1 person, 2.56%
Hypersensitivity: 1 person, 2.56%
Dyspnea (difficult or laboured breathing): 1 person, 2.56%
Cardiac Failure Congestive: 1 person, 2.56%
Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (acute cancer in which the bone marrow makes abnormal myeloblasts): 1 person, 2.56%

* Approximation only. Some reports may have incomplete information.

Related studies:

Effectiveness of, long term effects of, and alternative drugs to Definity:

Definity (4,853 reports)

Expand to all the drugs that have ingredients of perflutren:

Death and drugs with ingredients of perflutren (40 reports)

Sub-studies by gender and age:

Female: 0-1 2-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+

Male: 0-1 2-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+

Browse all side effects of Definity:

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Browse all the drugs that are associated with Death:

Death (3,177 drugs)

Browse all the conditions that are associated with Death:

Death (3,686 conditions)

How the study uses the data?

The study uses data from the FDA. It is based on perflutren (the active ingredients of Definity) and Definity (the brand name). Other drugs that have the same active ingredients (e.g. generic drugs) are not considered. Dosage of drugs is not considered in the study.

How to use the study?

DO NOT STOP MEDICATIONS without first consulting your doctor. If there are any serious or long term adverse effects discovered in the study, discuss the study with your doctor to ensure that proper medication management will be in place if applicable.

Who is eHealthMe?

With medical big data and proven AI/ML algorithms, eHealthMe provides a platform for everyone to run phase IV clinical trials. We study millions of patients and 5,000 more each day. Results of our real-world drug study have been referenced on 800+ peer-reviewed medical publications, including The Lancet, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, and Nature. Our analysis results are available to researchers, health care professionals, patients (testimonials), and software developers (open API).

WARNING, DISCLAIMER, USE FOR PUBLICATION

WARNING: Please DO NOT STOP MEDICATIONS without first consulting a physician since doing so could be hazardous to your health.

DISCLAIMER: All material available on eHealthMe.com is for informational purposes only, and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment provided by a qualified healthcare provider. All information is observation-only. Our phase IV clinical studies alone cannot establish cause-effect relationship. Different individuals may respond to medication in different ways. Every effort has been made to ensure that all information is accurate, up-to-date, and complete, but no guarantee is made to that effect. The use of the eHealthMe site and its content is at your own risk.

If you use this eHealthMe study on publication, please acknowledge it with a citation: study title, URL, accessed date.