The value of real-time gray-scale contrast-enhanced ultrasound in diagnosis of portal venous system thrombosis before liver transplantation

Objective To evaluate the value of gray-scale contrast-enhanced ultrasound(CEUS) in diagnosis and differential diagnosis of portal venous system thrombosis.Methods SonoVue-enhanced ultrasonography with contrast pulsed sequencing(CPS) imaging technique was performed on 84 vessels of 37 patients with portal vein system thrombosis before liver transplantation.Results Seventy-eight vessels with thrombosis(50 tumor thrombosis,28 blood thrombosis) and 6 with normal lumens were confirmed by liver transplant surgery or spiral CT portography.The sensitivity and specificity in diagnosis of portal vein thrombosis with contrast-enhanced ultrasonography were 98.7% and 100%,respectively.Using early arterial enhancement of the thrombus on CEUS as a criterion,for the diagnosing protal venous thrombosis,the sensitivity and specificity were 100% and 100%,respectively.Conclusion CEUS can improve the detecting rate of portal venous system thrombosis and differentiate blood thrombosis from tumor thrombosis.It can be the guide for the clinicians to choose proper methods before liver transplantation.