title: Usefulness of contrast-enhanced wide-band Doppler ultrasonograpy to diagnose alveolar echinococcosis of the liver and evaluate the effect of the treatment.
abstract: Alveolar echinococcosis is a rare parasitic disease caused by Echinococcus multicularis and most commonly involves the liver. Early diagnosis and accurate evaluation of the effect of the treatment are essential to improve the prognosis of patients with alveolar echinococcosis of the liver (AEL). The aim of this study was to demonstrate the characteristic imaging of AEL by contrast-enhanced Dynamic Flow (CE-DF) employing a wide-band Doppler technique for the diagnosis and the accurate evaluation of the effect of the treatment. Four patients with five AEL lesions before treatment or during medication were examined by CE-DF. All of the five AEL lesions examined by CE-DF revealed a defect with an irregular and distinct margin like a worm-eaten defect appearance, which was never observed on other hepatic lesions, in liver perfusion image during post-vascular phase. In addition, CE-DF made it possible to measure the size of AEL lesions accurately because the margin was detected distinctly. These data suggest that CE-DF is clinically useful for the diagnosis of AEL and the evaluation of the effect of the treatment.
authors.affiliation: Third Department of Internal Medicine, Asahikawa Medical College, 2-1, Midorigaoka-Higashi, Asahikawa 078-8510, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuaki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Yoshinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fujimoto
authors.forename: Yayoi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hosoki
authors.forename: Masako
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Mitsutaka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Shinobu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sakurai
authors.forename: Takaaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohtake
authors.forename: Masumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ohhira
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kohgo
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015766:Albendazole / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000871:Anthelmintics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003287:Contrast Media / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004444:Echinococcosis, Hepatic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D008099:Liver / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000473:pathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000008:administration & dosage; D036542:Tomography, Spiral Computed / Q000379:methods; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D018608:Ultrasonography, Doppler / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D000871:Anthelmintics; D003287:Contrast Media; D011134:Polysaccharides; C059891:SHU 508; D015766:Albendazole