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Have you just received your abdominal ultrasound examination? Wondering what it means? Does it suggest some dangerous disease? If so, this article is for you! Remember, however, that analyzing the result is an art and the article is not intended to teach you the correct interpretation, but to help you understand the complex terminology often found in test descriptions.
Abdominal ultrasound examination is one of the basic and most frequently performed examinations used for imaging the organs in the abdominal cavity. First of all, it is used to assess the liver, gallbladder, kidneys, spleen and pancreas.
Check how to prepare for an abdominal ultrasound
Abdominal ultrasound – indications
The main indications for the examination are:
- suspicion of cancer of the abdominal organs,
- kidney or gallstone disease,
- dysfunction of the bladder or prostate,
- the presence of fluid in the peritoneal cavity,
- palpable enlargement of parenchymal organs, e.g. liver or spleen,
- suspicion of an abdominal aortic aneurysm.
See also: Which drugs are most often administered to patients before an abdominal ultrasound is performed?
Selected terms used in the description of ultrasound of the abdominal cavity
The most important and common terms used in describing the results of an abdominal ultrasound examination are presented below. In general, these terms are quite general, more detailed descriptions provide tests aimed at a specific organ, e.g. kidneys or gallbladder.
- Deposits (concrements) in the ultrasound of the abdominal cavity
What they mean: deposits in an ultrasound scan are stones, which are most often made of calcium ions, cholesterol, and bile pigments.
Interpretation: how plaque affects health depends on their quantity and size. A large amount of larger deposits may result in clogging of the cystic duct. It also increases the risk of blockage of the bile duct, which in turn can lead to acute cholecystitis and, in some cases, acute pancreatitis.
Find out more about acute cholecystitis
- Thin-walled gallbladder on ultrasound of the abdominal cavity
Which means: shows a normal image of the gallbladder wall.
Gall bladder – how are its diseases manifested?
- Thickening of the gallbladder wall on ultrasound of the abdominal cavity
Interpretation: one of the most common causes of this condition is cholecystitis, but the thickening of the gallbladder wall may also be affected by circulatory failure, sepsis, liver disease, and kidney failure.
- Gallbladder in ultrasound of the abdominal cavity
Which means: in the ultrasound image of the abdominal cavity, “mud” usually means a large amount of microtubes, that is, deposits of a very small size.
Interpretation: the presence of gallbladder may indicate disturbances in the functioning of the gallbladder, including chronic inflammation.
- Dilated bile ducts in ultrasound of the abdominal cavity
Interpretation: This type of dilation can affect both the extrahepatic and intrahepatic bile ducts. The most common causes of this condition are inflammation of the bile ducts, gallstones and neoplasms within the bile ducts.
Learn the first symptoms of gallstone disease
- Gallbladder polyp on ultrasound of the abdominal cavity
What it means: A gallbladder polyp is a nodular growth within the gallbladder. Most of them are benign lesions, and 90% of all gallbladder polyps are cholesterol.
Interpretation: large, squat, single polyps larger than 10 mm in size, especially enlarging in a short time and without a stalk, may indicate the development of a neoplastic disease.
Check what are the causes and symptoms of bile duct cancer
- Hypoechoic change in ultrasound of the abdominal cavity
What it means: an ultrasound hypoechoic lesion is a lesion that is darker than the surrounding area.
Interpretation: these are soft, more blood-supplied lesions, such as solid tumors. These types of lesions can be malignant or benign.
- Hyperechoic change in ultrasound of the abdominal cavity
What it means: an ultrasound hyperechoic lesion is a lesion that is brighter than the surrounding area.
Interpretation: These are hard, dense lesions, including ureters, gas, and calcifications.
- Focal change in ultrasound of the abdominal cavity
Which means: most often they are single lesions that could mean a cyst or a solid tumor.
Interpretation: A focal lesion is a general statement that can mean both benign and malignant lesions.
- UKM in ultrasound of the abdominal cavity
What it means: UKM is an abbreviation of the cup-pelvic system, i.e. the structures that connect with the renal medulla.
Interpretation: The cup-pelvic system is the link between the kidney and the ureter and bladder.
- Kidney cyst in ultrasound of the abdominal cavity
Which means: it indicates the presence of a well-defined reservoir (containing air or fluid), usually a mild lesion.
Interpretation: Renal lesions of this type are generally simple cysts for which periodic monitoring is indicated. If the cyst is located in the cortical layer of the kidney’s parenchyma, it is called a cortical cyst.
Also, check what is kidney cystic disease
- Widened Wirsung duct in ultrasound of the abdominal cavity
Which means: the Wirsung duct is the main duct in the pancreas that transports digestive enzymes from the pancreas to the duodenum.
Interpretation: The most common cause of Wirsung duct dilatation is acute or chronic pancreatitis. Ductile gallstones can also cause the duct to widen.
- The hilum of the liver on ultrasound of the abdominal cavity
Which means: it is a place in the liver through which blood vessels such as the hepatic artery and portal vein as well as the common hepatic duct enter it.
Interpretation: On ultrasound examination, enlarged lymph nodes or neoplasms of the bile ducts, especially Klatskin’s tumor, may be seen in the area of the hilum of the liver.
- Enlarged liver protruding from under the costal arch on ultrasound of the abdominal cavity
Which means: it is abnormal, may indicate an active inflammatory process in the liver or cirrhosis.
Read more on cirrhosis of the liver
- Enlarged lymph nodes on ultrasound of the abdominal cavity
What they mean: most often in the description you can meet the term “reactive” lymph nodes – it means that most likely lymphadenopathy has occurred as a result of the ongoing inflammatory process. Another cause of lymphadenopathy is metastatic cancer cells.
How to recognize enlarged lymph nodes?
- Free fluid in the peritoneal cavity on ultrasound of the abdominal cavity
Interpretation: The most common causes of abdominal fluid are: circulatory failure, renal failure, cirrhosis, and malignant tumors in the abdomen or pelvic cavity, such as ovarian cancer.
Insidious ovarian cancer – how to protect yourself against it?
- The adrenal area in ultrasound of the abdominal cavity
Which means: during an ultrasound examination of the abdominal cavity, it is not possible to accurately visualize the adrenal glands, although it is possible to visualize the space above the upper poles of the kidneys, which should correspond to the location of the adrenal glands.
Interpretation: nodular changes are sometimes detected in the adrenal fields, which may be adrenal neoplasms, in which case further diagnosis is required.
- Pancreas with heterogeneous flesh on ultrasound of the abdominal cavity
Which means: it may result from an anatomical variant as well as inflammation in the pancreas.
Symptoms and treatment of pancreatitis
- Widened abdominal aorta on ultrasound of the abdominal cavity
Which means: most often it means an abdominal aortic aneurysm.
Interpretation: Requires urgent surgical consultation.
Who is at risk for an abdominal aortic aneurysm?
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