Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine, Vol 17, Issue 10 619-622, Copyright © 1998 by American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine
Three-dimensional power Doppler sonography of tumor vascularity
H. Ohishi, T. Hirai, R. Yamada, S. Hirohashi, H. Uchida, H. Hashimoto, T. Jibiki and Y. Takeuchi
Department of Oncoradiology, Nara Medical University, Kashihara City, Japan.
The purpose of this study was to assess the value of routine clinical
examination using three-dimensional power Doppler sonography of
intratumoral blood flow. Twenty-two hepatocellular carcinomas, seven cases
of hepatic metastasis, four hepatic hemangiomas, six renal cell carcinomas,
two cases of hepatic focal nodular hyperplasia, and one case of splenic
metastasis were included in the study. Three-dimensional images were
reconstructed by maximum intensity projection method using cine-loop data
on a built-in computer in a LOGIQ 500 and a LOGIQ 700 from GE Yokogawa
Medical Systems. The three-dimensional images obtained were viewed
multidirectionally on a monitor screen. Three-dimensional representations
of intratumoral blood flow became available for all tumors approximately 5
s to 30 s after scanning. In every case, the entire vasculature of the
tumor was appreciated more easily from three-dimensional images than from
cross-sectional two-dimensional images. These three-dimensional images of
intratumoral blood flows corresponded to the tumor vessels that could be
visualized by angiography at the early arterial phase. Differential
diagnosis of hepatic tumors based on distinct difference in their
intratumoral vascular structures was performed. Our results suggest that
three-dimensional power Doppler sonography can be used for routine clinical
examination of tumor vascularity and may provide improved diagnostic
information.
