Abstract
Object: The detectability of collateral vessels of the portal vein by color Doppler sonography (CDS) was evaluated and compared with that by 3D-magnetic responce angiography (3D-MRA) in 31 patients suspected of having portal hypertension.
The left gastric vein was detectable in 11 patients by CDS and in 11 patients by 3D-MRA and in 8 patients by both methods, while the paraumbilical vein was detectable in 5 patients by CDS and 4 patients by 3D-MRA and 4 patients by both methods. However, esophageal varices, splenorenal shunt and defects of in portal flow were detected in 3, 2, and 9 patients, respectively, by CDS, and in 8, 9, and 3 patients, respectively, by 3D-MRA, and this difference was probably due to interference by gastrointestinal gas and slow portal blood flow in CDS.
However, CDS was uniquely important in assesing reversal portal blood flow in 4 cases, which were not detectable by 3D-MRA.
Thus, CDS is clinically useful not only for the delineation of collaterals, but also for the detecion of abnormal blood flow in patiens with portal hypertension.
