Liver socrative and review Flashcards
The evaluation of the portal system includes the hepatic, portal, splenic veins, the hepatic arteries and what other vessels?
- IVC
- Aorta
- Collaterals if they are seen, the most common we will see is the coronary vein. The teres is also common.
If scanning the MPV from anterior window, would you expect the flow to be hepatofugal or hepatopedal?
Hepatopedal.
Which of these waveforms has the higher resistance to flow? The right or the left?
The right side is the one with the higher resistance. The between the systolic and diastolic is higher.
Greater than what AP measurement is considered dilated for the IVC?
2.5 cm
We should also look at compressibility and pulsatility
Which type of portal hypertension, pre, post, or intrahepatic will result in splenomegaly?
All of these result in splenomegaly, all of these will blood will cause a back up causing the spleen to enlarge.
What ultrasound finding may be present in the porta hepatis when there is portal vein thrombosis? (not in vein)
Cavernous transformation (a lot of small vessels will enlarge to try to get blood through)
What are three pitfalls of portal thrombosis that a sonographer should account for when scanning?
- Failing to detect flow (poor doppler angle)
- Having an adequate scale for doppler
- Some portal thrombus is anechoic
How does the normal hepatic vein waveform change in the presence of increased right sided heart pressures?
- Decrease in the S wave
- IVC dilation
What direction are the right and left portal veins after the insertion of a TIPs shunt?
Hepatofugal
Define the terms “hepetofugal” and “Heaptopedal”
Hepatofugal means away from the liver and hepatopedal means towards the liver
Describe the normal hepatic artery waveform
- The normal hepatic artery waveform is monophasic and has low resistance
- IT has fast acceleration to the PSC and the window is filled in due to the small diameter related to the sample volume
- Resistive index is ranged 0.5-0.7
What are three considerations a sonographer must make when assessing for portal vein thrombosis to not miss the diagnosis?
- Thrombus can appear anechoic so an assessment with colour doppler is crucial
- The low velocity of flow can be missed if Doppler scale settings are not appropriate
- An inadequate doppler angle, especially from an anterior window, could demonstrate a vessel that does not fill or give inaccurate velocity data
Name the secondary finding at the porta hepatis when portal vein thrombosis is present
Cavernous transformation is the appearance of tiny collateral vessels in the porta hepatis when the portal vein is thrombosed
Based on this sagittal image of the left lobe of the liver, what is the most likely diagnosis?
This is an image of the LPV in sagittal, demonstrating recanalization of the umbilical vein through the ligamentum teres. This finding supports a intrahepatic cause of portal hypertension
What is the most likely diagnosis based on this waveform obtained in MHV?
The s-wave is retrograde, or hepatopedal, and should have been below the baseline. This happens when the right side heart pressure increases and over filling of the right ventricle causes the blood to backup into the liver