Jaundice:a preliminary study with the ultrasound

Objective To evaluate the ultrasound in imaging diagnosi s of jaundice. Methods The changes of ultrasonography of 116 patients with jaundi ce were correlatively studied with the final diagnosis. Results Hepatocellular jaundice was found in 27 cases out of 116; and obstructive jaundice was revealed in other 89 cases. The level of obstruction was correctly assessed by ultrasoun d in 94.2 % of the patients. The primary lesion was successfully identified by ultrasound in 87.6 % cases of obstructive jaundice. Misdiagnosis was made in 8 cases. Conclusion Ultrasonography can confirm the obstructive jaundice. The l evel of obstruction can be precisely located and the primary lesions can be corr ectly identified in most cases. Better understanding the sonographic characteris tics of benign disorder such as inflammatory mass of caput of pancreas and infla mmatory stricture of common bile duct results in a higher diagnostic accuracy.