Peritoneal metastases: evaluation with contrast-enhanced ultrasound

Diagnostic and interventional EUS in hepatology: An updated review

EUS has become an increasingly used diagnostic and therapeutic modality in the armamentarium of endoscopists. With ever-expanding indications, EUS is being used in patients with liver disease, for both diagnosis and therapy. EUS is playing an important role in providing additional important information to that provided by cross-sectional imaging modalities such as computerized tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. Domains of therapy that were largely restricted to interventional radiologists have become accessible to endosonologists. From liver biopsy and sampling of liver lesions to ablative therapy for liver lesions and vascular interventions for varices, there is increased use of EUS in patients with liver disease. In this review, we discuss the various diagnostic and therapeutic applications of EUS in patients with various liver diseases.

Role of endoscopic ultrasound in the field of hepatology: Recent advances and future trends

The role of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) as a diagnostic and therapeutic modality for the management of various gastrointestinal diseases has been expanding. The imaging or intervention for various liver diseases has primarily been the domain of radiologists. With the advances in EUS, the domain of endosonologists is rapidly expanding in the field of hepatology. The ability to combine endoscopy and sonography in one hybrid device is a unique property of EUS, together with the ability to bring its probe/transducer near the liver, the area of interest. Its excellent spatial resolution and ability to provide real-time images coupled with several enhancement techniques, such as contrast-enhanced (CE) EUS, have facilitated the growth of EUS. The concept of “Endo-hepatology” encompasses the wide range of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures that are now gradually becoming feasible for managing various liver diseases. Diagnostic advancements can enable a wide array of techniques from elastography and liver biopsy for liver parenchymal diseases, to CE-EUS for focal liver lesions to portal pressure measurements for managing various liver conditions. Similarly, therapeutic advancements range from EUS-guided eradication of varices, drainage of bilomas and abscesses to various EUS-guided modalities of liver tumor management. We provide a comprehensive review of all the different diagnostic and therapeutic EUS modalities available for the management of various liver diseases. A synopsis of all the technical details involving each procedure and the available data has been tabulated, and the future trends in this area have been highlighted.

Ultrasonography in infectious and neoplastic diseases of the bowel and peritoneum

Ultrasonography is not the most cited imaging technique for the evaluation of infectious and neoplastic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and the peritoneum, but it is often the initial technique used in the initial workup for nonspecific clinical syndromes. Despite its limitations, ultrasonography's strengths enable it to provide meaningful diagnostic information. To discuss the most important ultrasonographic, clinical, and epidemiological findings for infectious disease, we follow a topographical approach: stomach (Anisakis), proximal small bowel (Giardia lamblia, Strongyloides stercoralis, Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare complex, and Cryptosporidium), distal small bowel (Yersinia, Salmonella, and Campylobacter), terminal ileum and cecum (tuberculosis), right colon (Entamoeba histolytica), left colon (Shigella), sigmoid colon and rectum, pancolitis (Clostridium difficile, Cytomegalovirus, and Escherichia coli), and peritoneum. To discuss the ultrasonographic and clinical findings of the most common neoplastic diseases, we follow a nosological approach: polyploid lesions as precursors of tumors, carcinomas, neuroendocrine tumors, hematological tumors, mesenchymal tumors, and metastases. We briefly discuss tumors of the peritoneum and the use of ultrasonography to guide percutaneous biopsy procedures.