Benign focal liver lesions: spectrum of findings on SonoVue-enhanced pulse-inversion ultrasonography.

The prevalence of benign focal liver lesions (BFLL) is high both in the general population and in patients with known malignancies. The gray-scale ultrasound (US) technique is usually the first-line imaging modality used in the radiological workup of such lesions, but unfortunately it lacks specificity. Furthermore, Doppler examination may often be unsatisfactory owing to motion artefacts, or when small or deeply located lesions are evaluated. Recently, microbubble-based contrast agents used in combination with gray-scale US techniques, which are very sensitive to nonlinear behavior of microbubbles, have led to a better depiction of both microvasculature and macrovasculature of focal hepati…

Liver haemangiomas undetermined at grey-scale ultrasound: contrast-enhancement patterns with SonoVue and pulse-inversion US.

The objective of this study was to describe the spectrum of contrast-enhancement patterns of hepatic haemangiomas undetermined at grey-scale ultrasound (US) on SonoVue-enhanced pulse-inversion (PI) US. Twenty patients (11 women, nine men) with 35 haemangiomas (size range: 1-7 cm; mean: 3.1 cm) undetermined at baseline US underwent PI at low M.I. (0.05-0.08) after i.v. injection of SonoVue. All haemangiomas were confirmed by typical helical computed tomography (CT) and/or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings. US examinations were videotaped and then reviewed by two experienced radiologists blinded to the final diagnosis. Readers evaluated by consensus the baseline echogenicity and the d…

Gas-containing renal stones: a red flag for renal infection.

Background Gas in the renal excretory system is described as a consequence of recent procedures but it can be a sign of severe conditions such as fistulas or infections; however, gas-containing renal stones are only rarely encountered. Purpose To describe the association of gas-containing renal stones and urinary tract infection. Material and Methods We performed a retrospective evaluation of the clinical and imaging findings in a series of six patients with gas-containing renal stones and compared our findings with those of patients with gas-containing renal stones reported in the literature. Urine and stone cultures were used as a diagnostic standard for urinary tract infection. Results I…

Bladder tumor staging: comparison of contrast-enhanced and gray-scale ultrasound

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of contrast-enhanced sonography in comparison with conventional sonography in differentiating muscle- infiltrating and superficial neoplasms of the urinary bladder. SUBJECTS AND METHODS. Conventional and contrast-enhanced sonography were performed on 34 consecutively registered patients with bladder tumors. All examinations were reviewed by two independent sonologists. At gray-scale sonography, interruption of the hyperechoic bladder wall was considered the main diagnostic criterion for differentiating superficial and infiltrating tumors. At contrast-enhanced sonography, a tumor was considered superficial when the hypoen…

Contrast Enhanced Ultrasonography for Focal Liver Lesions Characterization: Clinical Perspective

Imaging of urinary bladder hernias

Lorenzo E. Bacigalupo1, Michele Bertolotto2, Filippo Barbiera3, Pietro Pavlica4, Roberto Lagalla3, Roberto S. Pozzi Mucelli2, Lorenzo E. Derchi1 Bacigalupo LE, Bertolotte M, Barbiera F, et al. erniation of the urinary bladder is not rare. It is usually considered that 1–3% of all inguinal hernias involve the bladder [1], and Iason [2], in 1944, reported an incidence of 10% in men older than 50 years. Most bladder hernias involve the inguinal and femoral canals, with the latter more frequent in women, and a predilection for the right side has been reported. However, herniations through ischiorectal, obturator, and abdominal wall openings have also been described. Any portion of the bladder m…

Sonographic appearances of the postoperative testis

Purpose: To describe the sonographic findings observed in the testis in patients who have undergone testicle-sparing surgery and surgical biopsies. Methods: We reviewed the color Doppler sonographic findings from 14 patients after testicular interventions: 2 open biopsy procedures for infertility and 12 testicle-sparing surgical procedures (1 for spontaneous intratesticular hemorrhage and 11 for small tumors). Ten patients had benign tumors; one had a malignancy. Three patients were symptomatic; all others were studied as follow-up. Results: Hypoechoic and hypovascular lesions at site of surgery were seen in 10 of the 11 patients after tumorectomy; no changes were observed in one patient. T…