Should I choose B-ultrasound or color Doppler ultrasound for liver cancer examination? What is the role of color Doppler ultrasound examination for liver cancer patients?

What is the role of color Doppler ultrasound examination for liver cancer patients? The scope of color Doppler ultrasound examination is very wide, and liver cancer is also within the scope of color Doppler ultrasound examination. Today, let's learn about the role of color Doppler ultrasound examination for liver cancer.

Principles of Color Doppler Ultrasound Examination

Color Doppler ultrasound is a high-definition black and white B-ultrasound plus color Doppler. Color Doppler ultrasound uses modern technology to convert Doppler signals into color signals, and superimposes them with two-dimensional black and white sound images to achieve color blood flow imaging, making it possible to observe and evaluate the intravascular space and blood flow status in vitro. Color Doppler ultrasound is mainly used for heart disease examinations and blood flow detection of major blood vessels inside and outside various organs of the human body. For example, in the diagnosis of digestive and urinary system diseases, color Doppler ultrasound is used to obtain blood flow information of the portal vein, hepatic artery, and renal artery.

Next, let’s take a look at the role of color ultrasound in examining liver cancer.

What is the role of color Doppler ultrasound examination in patients with liver cancer?

When using ultrasound to examine liver space-occupying lesions, ordinary B-ultrasound can only show the size of liver cancer and the characteristics of echoes. When distinguishing whether the liver space-occupying lesions are benign or malignant, it is sometimes difficult to do so with ordinary B-ultrasound, but it is possible to distinguish them using color Doppler ultrasound. This is because the blood supply of liver cancer is different from that of benign liver space-occupying lesions. More than 90% of the blood supply of liver cancer is supplied by the hepatic artery. This unique blood supply feature can be used for the differential diagnosis of liver cancer. Since color Doppler ultrasound can show the arterial blood flow inside liver cancer, it is possible to distinguish liver cancer from benign space-occupying lesions based on the amount of arterial blood supply. If there is abundant arterial blood flow inside the space-occupying lesion, it indicates liver cancer, otherwise it indicates a benign space-occupying lesion.

The sensitivity of color ultrasound in detecting liver cancer is similar to that of conventional B-ultrasound, but the examination cost of B-ultrasound is significantly lower than that of color ultrasound. Therefore, conventional B-ultrasound examination should be performed first, and color ultrasound examination should be performed only when it is difficult to determine the nature of the space-occupying lesion by conventional B-ultrasound.

During the color Doppler ultrasound examination of liver cancer, you should actively cooperate with the doctor.