title: Colour Doppler ultrasound assessment of the inferior vena cava in patients with Wilms' tumour.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the diagnostic accuracy of colour flow Doppler ultrasound in diagnosing inferior vena caval (IVC) extension of tumour thrombus in patients with Wilms' tumour.
  
  
  METHODS
  Over a 3-year period from June 1994 to June 1997, 74 patients with Wilms' tumour were referred to our institution. In this retrospective study we reviewed the preoperative colour flow Doppler ultrasound reports of 64 of these patients and compared the reports with the intra-operative findings in 51 patients who underwent surgery.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Vena caval extension of tumour thrombus was present in 12 patients (18.7%) and in six of these patients (9.4%) there was also atrial extension of the tumour. Colour flow Doppler ultrasound correctly diagnosed IVC extension of tumour thrombus in nine patients and correctly predicted the cranial extent of the tumour thrombus in eight patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Colour flow Doppler ultrasound has an overall positive predictive value of 73.4% in assessing IVC patency and correctly diagnosing IVC extension of tumour thrombus, in patients with Wilms' tumour. However, non-diagnostic ultrasound examinations can occur in over 20% of patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Natal, Durban, South Africa.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Solwa
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sanyika
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Hadley
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Corr
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D018615:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color; D014682:Vena Cava, Inferior / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D009396:Wilms Tumor / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*