2007 Volume 32 Issue 1 Pages 78-81
We report a case of small hepatic angiomyolipoma (AML) in which we preoperatively identified the color Doppler ultrasound (US) and CO2-US angiography characteristics. A 49-year-old woman was found to have a liver tumor 13 mm in diameter in segment V by abdominal US and computed tomography (CT), but it was difficult to make a definite diagnosis of the tumor by conventional imaging studies. Color Doppler US revealed a pulsating arterial afferent tumor vessel and constant efferent flow from the tumor. US angiography demonstrated heterogeneous positive enhancement of the tumor immediately after injection of CO2 and the contrast enhancement perisisted for 600 seconds. The results in this case show that US angiography and color Doppler US are extremely useful for diagnosing small hepatic nodules.
