IOUS is an important tool in the fields of surgery for liver tumors, but it also has some drawbacks such as lacking of specificity to differentiate cirrhotic nodules from small malignant nodules. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound was shown with improved nodule characterization by recent studies.
The research team led by Prof. Yan Luo from West China Hospital found that besides the merits of IOUS, CE-IOUS shows tumor vascularity and tissue microcirculation by applying intravenous ultrasound contrast agents, thus helps to differentiate malignant nodules from benign ones. Therefore it helps surgeons to eradicate malignant nodules and avoid unnecessary intervention of benign ones. Their finding were published on 7 July 2008, in the World Journal of Gastroenterology.
Due to the high sensitivity and specificity of CE-IOUS to find malignant liver tumors, this new technique should be used more frequently in surgeries for cirrhotic livers.
Although this study includes only a short number of patients, the research is quite interesting and the results are relevant to improve the quality of hepatic surgery.
Reference: Lu Q, Luo Y, Yuan CX, Zeng Y, Wu H, Lei Z, Zhong Y, Fan YT, Wang HH, Luo Y. Value of contrast-enhanced intraoperative ultrasound in surgery for hepatocellular carcinoma in cirrhosis: 20 cases report. World J Gastroenterol 2008; 14(25):4005-4010
http://www.wjgnet.com/1007-9327/14/4005.asp
Correspondence to: Yan Luo, Dr, Department of Sonography, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China. luoyan77@vip.sina.com
Telephone: +86-28-85422304 Fax: +86-28-85423192
About World Journal of Gastroenterology
World Journal of Gastroenterology (WJG), a leading international journal in gastroenterology and hepatology, has established a reputation for publishing first class research on esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, liver cancer, viral hepatitis, colorectal cancer, and H pylori infection. It provides a forum for both clinicians and scientists. WJG has been indexed and abstracted in Current Contents/Clinical Medicine, Science Citation Index Expanded (also known as SciSearch) and Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition, Index Medicus, MEDLINE and PubMed, Chemical Abstracts, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, Abstracts Journals, Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology and Hepatology, CAB Abstracts and Global Health. ISI JCR 2003-2000 IF: 3.318, 2.532, 1.445 and 0.993. WJG is a weekly journal published by WJG Press. The publication dates are the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th of every month. The WJG is supported by The National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 30224801 and No. 30424812, and was founded with the title China National Journal of New Gastroenterology on October 1, 1995, and renamed WJG on January 25, 1998.
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Key words: Alternative Medicine; Gastroenterology
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World Journal of Gastroenterology