[An evaluation of the hemodynamics in metastatic liver tumor by using ultrasound color Doppler flow mapping examination].

Eighty-one patients with metastatic liver tumors were studied by ultrasound color Doppler flow mapping examination. Primary origins consisted of gastric (19 cases), colorectal (40 cases), breast (7 cases), pancreatic (3 cases), gallbladder (3 cases) cancers and the others (9 cases). Metastatic lesions originated from breast, gastric and colorectal cancers had higher detection rates, however no blood flow could be observed within metastatic liver cancers from pancreatic and gallbladder cancers. There were no differences among the maximum blood flow velocity (Vmax), the resistance index (RI) and the pulsatile index (PI) in various metastatic liver tumors. In case of colorectal cancers, metastatic lesions originated from moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma had significantly lower RI (p < 0.05) and PI (p < 0.01) than that from well differentiated adenocarcinoma. In conclusion, ultrasound color Doppler flow mapping examination is a useful method for evaluation of the blood flow within metastatic liver tumors and could offer the histological differentiation of the primary origins, in case of metastatic liver cancers originated from colorectal cancers.