Dear Ultrasound Insider,
While all major liver societies recommend ultrasound for surveillance of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in high-risk patients, the modality has been reported to have significant variations in sensitivity.
In a recent study, researchers from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) sought to assess the quality of these ultrasound studies and investigate factors that might affect performance. The UCSD team found, unfortunately, that nearly two-thirds of the ultrasound scans performed for HCC surveillance were rated as inadequate.
What factors were most likely to affect image quality? Find out in our Insider Exclusive, which you have access to before our regular members.
In other features, contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) was found to be a useful tool in the fight to diagnose gallbladder cancer sooner. Get the details here.
Also, CEUS can be used instead of CT for following up solid-organ injuries in children and young adults, according to a large study from King's College Hospital in the U.K. You can read our coverage by clicking here.
Point-of-care ultrasound does a better job of evaluating soft-tissue neck masses than clinical assessment by pediatric emergency medicine physicians, according to a pilot study from Maimonides Medical Center. Find out more by clicking here.
Finally, troubling research from Children's Hospital of Wisconsin showed that critical congenital heart disease was more likely to be missed prenatally in poorer and more rural communities. Also, bedside ultrasound was found to offer equivalent performance to x-ray for diagnosing acute shoulder dislocation in emergency department patients.
Is there a topic you'd like to see covered in the Ultrasound Community? As always, please feel free to drop me a line.
