Contrast-enhanced ultrasonographic imaging diagnosis on assessment of vascularity in liver metastatic lesions.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the vasculature of rabbit liver metastatic lesions by color Doppler imaging and power Doppler imaging (PDI) techniques.


METHODS
Eight New Zealand rabbits with implanted VX2 liver tumors were used. All ultrasound examinations were performed with a HP 5500 color Doppler ultrasound scanner. Before and after the injection of contrast agent, the changes of gray scale and the periphery and intralesional blood flow of the liver metastatic lesion were carefully observed by B mode ultrasound, color Doppler flow imaging (CDFI) and PDI.


RESULTS
Twelve lesions were found in the eight rabbits with implanted VX2 liver tumors, whose diameter ranged from 1.6 to 4.8 cm. Echoes of these lesions were not characterized and has lack of specificity. After the injection of contrast agent, the numbers of dot or strip-like flow messages increased both at the periphery and inside of these lesions under the mode of CDFI and PDI, and were more pronounced under PDI. Morphology of intralesional vessels extended, even branched and some signals were clearly found encircling the lesion. And some vessels were found penetrating into the center of the lesion.


CONCLUSIONS
PDI after injection of self-made echo contrast agent can show a pronounced sensitivity than that of B mode ultrasound and CDFI in diagnosis of vascularity of a metastatic lesion.
Du
Wen-Hua
WH
Department of Ultrasonography, Daping Hospital and Research Institute of Surgery, the Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400042, China. duwenhua001@163.com
Yang
Wei-Xiao
WX
Xiong
Xiu-Qin
XQ
Wang
Xiang
X
Zhou
Yi
Y
Wang
Hui
H
D000818:Animals; D003287:Contrast Media; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D018615:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color
D003287:Contrast Media