Low mechanical index contrast-enhanced sonographic findings of hepatic tuberculosis

Objective To investigate the appearance and characteristics of hepatic tuberculosis lesions on low mechanical index contrast-enhanced ultrasound. Methods Eight patients with hepatic tuberculosis lesions were studied with conventional ultrasound and contrast-enhanced ultrasound. Lesions,distribution.size,echogenieity,blood flow,enhancement phase,enhancement patterns and intensity were studied. ResuIts Fifteen lesions were found in eight patients. On conventional ultrasound,mean size of the lesions was(21.7±10.7)mm×(30.3±22.4)mm,and 66.7%(10/15)lesions located under liver capdule,and 33.3%(5/15)were in hepatic parenchyma.All lesions were hypoechoic except the largest one (50 mm x 102 mm)which demonstrated heterogeneous.Doppler signals were not demonstrated in all 15 lesions.After administration of SonoVue,satisfied image data were obtained in 13 lesions for aterial phase,and 15 lesions for portal venous phase and parenchyma phase.84.6%(11/13)of the lesions demonstrated hyperenhancing on aterial phase,mean enhancing start time was(8.6±1.6)s,ranging from 5 s to 10 s.and mean enhancing end time was(25.6±2.8)s,ranging from 20 s to 29 s. Of 13 lesions,6 lesions demonstrated circle periphery hyper-enchanCement,5 lesions demonstrated whole hyper-enchancement,and 2 lesions appeared hypoenhancement on arterial phase. All lesions demonstrated either hypoenhancing or non-enhancement on portal venous phase and parenchyma phase. Conclusions Low mechanical index contrast-enhanced ultrasound can reveal the blood flow status of hepatic tuberculous lesions and will facilitate the diagnosis of hepatic tuberculosis. Key words: Ultrasonography; Contrast media; Tuberculosis,hepatic