Incidence of potential glycosylation sites in immunoglobulin variable regions distinguishes between subsets of Burkitt's lymphoma and mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the validity of colour doppler sonography in the evaluation of portal venous system in hepatocellular carcinoma.

METHODS

The study was conducted at the Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology at Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad, from March to November 2009, and comprised 100 patients who were already diagnosed cases of hepatocellular carcinoma or those having high suspicion based on clinical criteria (e.g., chronic hepatitis B or C, liver cirrhosis, increased alpha fetoprotein level [>400ng/dl]) and/or Imaging findings (e.g., sonography, magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography). Data was collected on pre-designed proforma and analysed on SPSS 10.

RESULTS

Portal vein thrombosis was found in 28 (28%) patients having hepatocellular carcinoma. Colour doppler sonography had 89.3% sensitivity and 95.8% specificity in the detection of portal vein thrombosis in comparison with biphasic computed tomography, which was taken as the gold standard.

CONCLUSION

Colour doppler sonognaphy is an effective, non-invasive method for evaluating the presence of portal vein thrombosis associated with hepatocellular carcinoma.