Indication of contrast-enhanced ultrasound in evaluating of portal vein patency

Objective To evaluate the usefulness of baseline ultrasound(BUS) and contrast-enhanced ultrasound(CEUS) in diagnosis of portal vein(PV) patency and to explore the indication of CEUS. Methods The diagnostic capability of BUS and CEUS were assessed in 64 cases according to definition of PV on BUS,which was divided into high, moderate and low definition. Results Thirty-five patients with portal vein thrombosis(PVT) and 29 patients with normal portal vein were confirmed. The diagnostic accuracies by using BUS and CEUS were 93.1% and 96.6% with high definition of PV,56.3% and 87.5% with moderate definition,and 68.4% and 89. 5% with low definition, respectively. Conclusions In the case of high definition of PV,the validity of diagnosing of PV patency with BUS may be similar to that with CEUS,thus introduction of CEUS would probably not be necessary. Otherwise CEUS is recommended. Key words: Ultrasonography;  Microbubbles; Portal vein;  Patency