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Assessment of hyperemia in acute appendicitis: Comparison between power Doppler and color Doppler sonography

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Abstract

The purpose of our study was to compare power Doppler sonography (US) and conventional color Doppler US in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis by revealing local signs of hyperemia. One hundred consecutive patients (46 males and 54 females, ages 7–61 years; mean, 24.7 years) with clinically suspected acute appendicitis were prospectively examined with power Doppler US and conventional color Doppler US. Of 38 patients who subsequently underwent surgery, appendicitis was proven in 34. The remaining 62 patients who were not submitted to surgery had no clinical evidence of appendicitis over a 2- to 6-month follow-up.

At gray-scale US, the appendix was visualized in 30 (88.2%) of the 34 cases with pathologically proven acute appendicitis. Power Doppler US depicted a moderate to marked hypervascularity of the appendiceal wall and surrounding mesoappendix in 28 (93.3%) of these 30 patients. At conventional color Doppler US, flow signal within the appendiceal wall and surrounding mesoappendix was shown in only 21 (70%) of 30 cases (P<0.05). No false-positive diagnosis was made at either power or color Doppler US among the 62 patients without appendicitis. Power Doppler US is more sensitive than conventional color Doppler imaging for revealing signs of local hyperemia in acute appendicitis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

    Fabio Pinto M.D., Riccardo Lencioni M.D., Andrea Falleni M.D., Alessandra Tozzini M.D., Mariano Scaglione M.D., Raffaello Stringari M.D. & Emanuele Neri M.D.

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  1. Fabio Pinto M.D.
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  2. Riccardo Lencioni M.D.
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  3. Andrea Falleni M.D.
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  4. Alessandra Tozzini M.D.
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  5. Mariano Scaglione M.D.
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  6. Raffaello Stringari M.D.
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  7. Emanuele Neri M.D.
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Pinto, F., Lencioni, R., Falleni, A. et al. Assessment of hyperemia in acute appendicitis: Comparison between power Doppler and color Doppler sonography. Emergency Radiology 5, 92–96 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02749144

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