Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography, baseline ultrasound and spiral computed tomography in the characterization of portal vein thrombosis

Objective To compare the performances of baseline ultrasound(BUS),contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and spiral computed tomography (CT) in characterizing of portal vein thrombosis (PVT).Methods The capability of differentiation of benign and malignant thrombi by using BUS,CEUS and spiral CT scan were assessed in 43 patients with PVT.Results The diagnostic accuracies of benign and malignant PVT were 100％ with CEUS,60.5％ with BUS and 76.7％ with CT,respectively.There were significant difference between every two groups( P ＜0.05).Conclusions CEUS is superior to BUS and CT in distinguishing benign and malignant PVT,thus it is recommended. Key words: Ultrasonography;  Microbubbles;  Portal vein;  Neoplasm circulating cells;  Venous thrombosis