Ultrasound is an excellent front-line diagnostic tool for evaluating the liver. It can help assess the presence of liver disease (such as fatty liver), detect liver lesions, and much more.
A liver ultrasound gives crucial information about any abnormalities of your liver. Doctors examine the density, masses, the brightness of the liver ultrasound scan to detect cysts, hepatitis, fatty liver, cirrhosis, etc. In an ultrasound scan, it's easy to distinguish cysts from solid masses.
Ultrasound is routinely used during the evaluation of cirrhosis. In one prospective study of ultrasound in patients suspected of having cirrhosis who underwent liver biopsy, ultrasound had a sensitivity of 91% and a specificity of 94% for making the diagnosis.
First, digestive symptoms or biological liver test abnormalities often lead the referring physician to request an abdominal ultrasound, and with an experienced operator, accuracy of ultrasound can reach 85% for the diagnosis of severe fibrosis or cirrhosis.
Findings of cirrhosis on US include an irregular and nodular surface, coarse echotexture, blunt edges, decreased right lobe–caudate lobe ratio, and indirect evidence of portal hypertension (1, 7). Surface nodularity has been shown to be the most common ultrasound feature in detection of cirrhosis (8).
Your doctor might arrange for you to have an ultrasound scan if you have symptoms of cancer that starts in the liver (primary liver cancer). The ultrasound can show up changes in the liver, including abnormal growths.
Blood tests
But liver function tests can be normal at many stages of liver disease. Blood tests can also detect if you have low levels of certain substances, such as a protein called serum albumin, which is made by the liver. A low level of serum albumin suggests your liver is not functioning properly.
To determine whether the liver is fatty or not, it must be calculated based on measurements of the liver. However, more than 95% of cases have "fatty liver" results only diagnosed by ultrasound methods, which makes many people confused.
The liver is known as a silent organ, as even when a liver failure occurs, the symptoms often go unnoticed. When symptoms such as jaundice become apparent, the disorder will have already reached an advanced stage.
Alcohol-related liver damage
People who misuse alcohol may have liver ultrasounds that show scarring or inflammation.
Advantages of ultrasound include safety, wide availability, and little associated patient discomfort. The relative cost of abdominal ultrasound is low compared to CT or MR. Unlike CT and MRI, liver iron has little effect on the ultrasound beam. Ultrasound has several disadvantages for steatosis detection and grading.
The main tool in the evaluation of liver enzyme abnormalities is abdominal ultrasound (US), with more in‐depth evaluation by computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)/magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP), or cholescintigraphy as detailed later.
Most people with liver disease report abdominal pain. Pain in your liver itself can feel like a dull throbbing pain or a stabbing sensation in your right upper abdomen just under your ribs.
If signs and symptoms of liver disease do occur, they may include: Skin and eyes that appear yellowish (jaundice) Abdominal pain and swelling. Swelling in the legs and ankles.
A liver blood test measures the levels of various things in your blood, like proteins, liver enzymes, and bilirubin. This can help check the health of your liver and for signs of inflammation or damage.
On ultrasound images, steatotic livers look brighter than normal livers, and cirrhotic livers (advanced fibrosis) look lumpy and shrunken.
Most liver cysts can be detected on ultrasound or computerized tomography (CT) scans. When needed, treatment may include drainage or removal of the cyst.
Though an ultrasound alone cannot definitively show whether a mass is cancer, the technology is commonly used during the diagnostic process. This is because solid masses and abnormal tissue emit a different echo than fluid-filled cysts and healthy tissue.
A doctor may recommend a liver ultrasound as a preliminary test to view the liver if a person has symptoms of liver disease. These include jaundice or pain in the upper right portion of the stomach. It is a good screening tool for various liver conditions, such as hepatitis, cancer, and cirrhosis.
All patients with cirrhosis are at risk for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and should undergo surveillance. The recommended surveillance modality is abdominal ultrasound, but it is limited in obese patients and those with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
When symptoms do occur, they may first include fatigue; weakness and weight loss; nausea; bruising or bleeding easily; swelling in your legs, feet or ankles; itchy skin; redness on the palms of your hands; and spider-like blood vessels on your skin.