Liver ultrasound is currently the main examination method for liver diseases, and two-dimensional ultrasound plays an important role in the diagnosis of the disease. Many patients in clinical practice, due to a lack of relevant knowledge, have a one-sided understanding of some professional terms related to ultrasound examination, which can add a lot of trouble to themselves. Ultrasound examination terms such as "thickening of liver parenchyma spots", "diffuse lesions of liver parenchyma", and "early liver cirrhosis ultrasonography" have made many patients anxious. Ultrasound examination has brought great convenience to the diagnosis of liver disease, but it has also added unnecessary psychological burden to some patients who are unaware of the truth. Today, let's learn about the knowledge of liver ultrasound examination together.
1、 The role of liver ultrasound
1. Understand the focus: As the first type of ultrasound for liver diseases, physical examination and hepatitis B virus analysis should be paid attention to during normal examination. Generally, during the examination of ultrasound focus, most of the liver space occupying lesions can be accurately detected, and both black and white ultrasound and color ultrasound can achieve the purpose of examination.
2. Determine the occupying lesion: Due to the high complexity of occupying lesions, the selection and use of ultrasound instruments require the judgment of the internal situation of the lesion. High level ultrasound equipment can display 1cm of liver cancer, which is considered to meet the requirements of occupying lesions and provides data support for clinical diagnosis.
3. Determine the actual state of the liver: In the diagnosis of liver cancer patients using liver ultrasound, it is necessary to determine the vascular relationship within the cancerous tissue based on the examination of the lesion location and morphology. In the subsequent selection of surgical plans, it is also necessary to understand the distribution of the liver's position. In the process of analyzing adjacent organs and infiltration, if there are further abnormal reactions, it is necessary to check whether live puncture examination is needed to further determine the condition of the lesion.
2、 The significance of liver ultrasound examination
Liver ultrasound is one of the important diagnostic conditions in medicine, and abnormal results need to be widely valued by doctors. In the diagnosis of diseases, changes in hepatic fluid may have an impact, such as fatty liver, primary or metastatic liver tumors, and significant changes in hepatic blood vessels, which can diagnose diseases such as aneurysms, congenital liver abnormalities, and schistosomiasis liver disease. The adverse reactions of bleeding from liver trauma are generally more common. In the process of examining the upper abdominal organs, it is necessary to understand the differences in exhaust, diarrhea, and pelvic organ types. In addition, in the examination of the liver and other parts, higher quality image results can be detected by inhaling and avoiding the obstruction of rib and gastrointestinal gases. When diagnosing the vascular blood flow spectrum, holding your breath for 3-5 seconds can obtain a more stable spectrum during this time period, but do not hold your breath for a long time to avoid errors.
3、 What are the indications for liver ultrasound examination?
1. Routine ultrasound accidentally discovers lesions in the liver.
2. Patients with chronic liver disease should undergo regular ultrasound monitoring for qualitative diagnosis after discovering nodules.
3. Clinical diagnosis of liver cirrhosis, intrahepatic nodules, and liver cancer patients.
4. Patients who require enhanced imaging but have contraindications to enhanced CT magnetic resonance imaging need to undergo liver ultrasound examination.
5. Patients who have not received a clear diagnosis from magnetic resonance imaging and CT, especially nodules that are not suitable for biopsy, can undergo liver ultrasound examination.
6. Patients whose cytology or histology cannot provide a clear diagnosis need to undergo liver ultrasound examination.
7. When nodules are multiple or have different enhancement modes, liver ultrasound examination can be performed to screen for nodules that require biopsy.
8. For nodules that have not been diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma but require follow-up monitoring, liver ultrasound contrast imaging can monitor changes in their size and enhancement pattern.
9. Ultrasound contrast examination can be performed on lesions in the liver that cannot be detected by conventional ultrasound under the condition of image fusion technology localization.
10. The assessment of postoperative complications after liver transplantation requires liver ultrasound examination.
4、 Precautions for liver ultrasound examination
1. Firstly, the patient should be examined on an empty stomach in the morning, lying flat on the examination bed and fully exposing the upper right abdomen. When examining the liver, if the left lobe of the liver is not clearly visible, the patient can drink water appropriately. If the right lobe of the liver is not clearly displayed, the patient can be placed in a left lateral position and undergo further examination.
2. During the process of liver ultrasound examination, patients should cooperate with the doctor's examination, which helps the doctor to focus on observing whether the capsule of the liver is complete, smooth, and whether the echo of the liver parenchyma is fine and uniform. Then, observe whether the distribution of bile ducts in the liver is normal, whether the inner diameters of the three hepatic veins and portal veins are normal, and whether there are tumor emboli in the veins.