Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine, Vol 5, Issue 7 397-400, Copyright © 1986 by American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine
Pseudo perisplenic "fluid collections": a clue to normal liver and spleen echogenic texture
D. K. Li, P. L. Cooperberg, M. F. Graham and P. Callen
In a number of cases the ultrasound examination of the left upper quadrant
showed an appearance suggesting a fluid collection around the superior and
lateral aspects of the spleen. Subsequent investigations including careful
real-time evaluation, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging
have demonstrated that the pseudo-"fluid collection" is the normal left
lobe of the liver extending into the left subdiaphragmatic space to lie
superior and even lateral to the spleen. The echogenicity of the normal
liver was observed to be less than that of the normal spleen. The ability
to simultaneously visualize both the liver and the normal spleen at the
same depth and the same field of view gives a true indication of the
relative echogenic consistency of the liver and the spleen, which is
different from that which had been previously reported.
