Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine, Vol 11, Issue 10 527-531, Copyright © 1992 by American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine
Various sonographic patterns of smooth muscle tumors of the gastrointestinal tract: a comparison with computed tomography
J. J. Chen, C. S. Changchien, S. S. Chiou, D. I. Tai, C. M. Lee and C. H. Kuo
Division of Gastroenterology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taiwan, Republic of China.
To evaluate the sonographic patterns of smooth muscle tumors of the
gastrointestinal tract, we analyzed 25 patients with histologically
confirmed smooth muscle tumors. Sonography revealed no abdominal mass in
seven patients (sonogram-negative), and abdominal masses in 18 patients
(sonogram-positive). The mean size of tumors in the sonogram-negative group
(4.5 +/- 1.5 cm) was smaller than that in the sonogram-positive group (11.4
+/- 3.5 cm). We classified the various sonograms into three patterns.
Comparing the sonograms with the computed tomographic pictures of each
pattern, we theorized that the different patterns on sonograms may be
caused by tumor necroses of different sizes with or without gas in the
necrotic cavity. For the necrotic tumors, the size of the necrotic area did
not correspond to the size of the tumor. However, the tumors with necroses
were significantly larger than those without necroses. A central necrosis
was found in cases exhibiting both leiomyosarcoma and leiomyoma. On
comparing the sonogram-positive and sonogram-negative groups, we found that
the size and location of a tumor may affect the detection rate of that
tumor by sonography.
