Color doppler imaging of the liver in neonates with biliary atresia

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Purpose : To describe color Doppler flow imaging findings of the liver in neonates with biliary atresia and to compare them with those of non-biliary atresiaMethods and Materials : From March 2003 to July 2007, from patients with confirmed biliary atresia, we selected 29 patients (51±24 days, 3-91 days) who were preoperatively evaluated with color Doppler US. We also performed color Doppler US in 35 patients (48±32 days, 3-150 days) with hyperbilirubinemia who did not have biliary atresia. In ultrasonography, we evaluated triangular cord sign, gall bladder length, and diameter of the portal vein and the hepatic artery. In color Doppler imaging, we evaluated presence of hepatic subcapsular flow. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were calculated for the TC sign in US and hepatic subcapsular flows in color Doppler imaging. The Mann-Whitney test was used to evaluate differences in the mean diameters of the portal vein and hepatic artery between patients with biliary atresia and non-biliary atresia.Results : In color Doppler images, all patients with biliary atresia demonstrated hepatic subcapsular flow. Among the 35 patients with non-biliary atresia, 30 did not have hepatic subcapsular flow (sensitivity 100%, specificity 85%, positive predictive value 85%, negative predictive value 100%). There was no difference in portal vein diameter between biliary atresia and non-biliary atresia groups. However, there was a statistically significant difference in hepatic artery diameter between the two groups (2.10±0.65mm vs 1.45±0.41 mm, p < .05). Conclusion : The presence of hepatic subcapsular flow is useful to differentiate biliary atresia from other cause of neonatal jaundice.