HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kim, K. W. Articles by Kim, T. K. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kim, K. W. Articles by Kim, T. K. Social Bookmarking                      What's this? Hotlight (NEW!) What's Hotlight?

Value of "Patent Track" Sign on Doppler Sonography After Percutaneous Liver Biopsy in Detection of Postbiopsy Bleeding: A Prospective Study in 352 Patients

¹ Department of Radiology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, 388-1, Pungnap-dong, Songpa-ku, Seoul 138-736, Korea.
² Department of Radiology, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Anyang, Korea.
³ Department of Radiology and Institute of Radiation Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
⁴ Department of Radiology, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
⁵ Department of Medical Imaging, Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of our study was to determine the prevalence of the "patent track" sign on Doppler sonography after percutaneous liver biopsy and to assess its value in detection of postbiopsy bleeding.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS. The study group included 352 patients who underwent Doppler sonography after 361 percutaneous liver biopsies. Color-flow images were obtained immediately and 5 minutes after the biopsies. Images were evaluated for the patent track sign, defined as linear color flow along the needle path. Patients were followed-up with clinical and laboratory findings to search for postbiopsy bleeding. Those suspected of having postbiopsy bleeding underwent CT. Sonographic results were compared with clinical and CT findings.

RESULTS. Clinically significant postbiopsy bleeding occurred in five patients (1%). On Doppler sonography immediately after the biopsies, the patent track sign was seen in 43 patients (12%). Patients with this sign more frequently bled than those without it (p = 0.0008). Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive values, and negative predictive values in detection of postbiopsy bleeding were 80%, 89%, 9%, and 100%, respectively. Among these patients, this sign was persistently seen in four and disappeared in the remaining 39 at 5 minutes after the biopsies. Patients with a persistent patent track sign more frequently bled than those without it (p < 0.0001). Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 60%, 100%, 75%, and 99%, respectively.

CONCLUSION. A patent track sign, frequently seen on Doppler sonography immediately after percutaneous liver biopsy, provides excellent screening for postbiopsy bleeding. This sign strongly predicts postbiopsy bleeding when persistently seen for 5 minutes.

Keywords: Doppler sonography • liver • "patent track" sign • percutaneous liver biopsy

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				H.-P. Song, M. Yu, M. Zhang, Z.-H. Han, H.-B. Zhang, T. Zhu, and X.-D. Zhou Diagnosis of Active Hemorrhage From the Liver With Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasonography After Percutaneous Transhepatic Angioplasty and Stent Placement for Budd-Chiari Syndrome J. Ultrasound Med., July 1, 2009; 28(7): 955 - 958. [Full Text] [PDF]