Articles
Articles are a collaborative effort to provide a single canonical page on all topics relevant to the practice of radiology. As such, articles are written and continuously improved upon by countless contributing members. Our dedicated editors oversee each edit for accuracy and style. Find out more about articles.
719 results found
Article
Acute hepatitis
Acute hepatitis occurs when the liver suffers an injury resulting in an inflammatory reaction. There are a variety of causal etiologies and imaging findings are often non-specific. Acute hepatitis is primarily a clinical diagnosis and a normal imaging appearance of the liver does not exclude it'...
Article
Hepatic metastases
Hepatic metastases are 18-40 times more common than primary liver tumors 6. Ultrasound, CT, and MRI are helpful in detecting hepatic metastases and evaluation across multiple post-contrast CT series, or MRI pulse sequences are necessary.
Epidemiology
The demographics of patients with liver me...
Article
Pylephlebitis
Pylephlebitis, also known as ascending septic thrombophlebitis, is a thrombotic occlusion of the portal vein or its branches secondary to infection in regions that drain to the portal venous system.
Clinical presentation
Clinical presentation is often vague. Patients may initially present with...
Article
Gallbladder
The gallbladder is a pear-shaped musculomembranous sac located along the undersurface of the liver. It functions to accumulate and concentrate bile between meals.
Gross anatomy
The normal adult gallbladder measures from 7-10 cm in length and 3-4 cm in transverse diameter 6. It communicates wit...
Article
Gallstones
Gallstones, also called cholelithiasis, are concretions that may occur anywhere within the biliary system, most commonly within the gallbladder.
Terminology
Gallstones (cholelithiasis) describe stone formation at any point along the biliary tree. Specific names can be given to gallstones depe...
Article
Focused Assessment with Sonography for Trauma (FAST) scan
Focused Assessment with Sonography for Trauma (FAST) scan is a point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) examination performed at the time of presentation of a trauma patient.
It is invariably performed by a clinician, who should be formally trained, and is considered as an 'extension' of the trauma cl...
Article
Cystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis (CF), also called mucoviscidosis, is an autosomal recessive genetic disease that affects the exocrine function of the lungs, liver, pancreas, small bowel, sweat glands, and urogenital system.
This article is a general discussion of the disease. Each organ system are discussed se...
Article
Caroli disease
Caroli disease and Caroli syndrome are congenital disorders comprising of multifocal cystic dilatation of segmental intrahepatic bile ducts. However, some series show that extrahepatic duct involvement may exist. They are also classified as a type V choledochal cyst, according to the Todani clas...
Article
Intrahepatic arterioportal shunt
Intrahepatic arterioportal shunts, also known as arterioportal fistulas, represent abnormal flow between the portal venous system and a hepatic arterial system within the liver. They can be a reversible cause of portal hypertension.
Clinical presentation
Clinical features will depend on the si...
Article
Aflatoxins
Aflatoxins are naturally-occurring mycotoxins that are produced by Aspergillus species, especially Aspergillus flavus. They are acutely toxic and carcinogenic.
Acute exposure
High-level aflatoxin exposure can result in acute aflatoxicosis with acute hepatic necrosis, leading to cirrhosis, and ...
Article
Acute cholecystitis
Acute cholecystitis refers to the acute inflammation of the gallbladder. It is the primary complication of cholelithiasis and the most common cause of acute pain in the right upper quadrant (RUQ).
Epidemiology
Acute cholecystitis is a common cause of hospital admission and is responsible for a...
Article
Focal hypodense hepatic lesions on non-enhanced CT (differential)
Focal hypodense hepatic lesions on a non-contrast CT scan can result from a number of pathological entities, including:
neoplasms
benign
hepatic hemangioma
adenoma
biliary hamartoma: von Meyenberg complexes 2
malignant
hepatoma / hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)
hepatic lymphoma
hepatic a...
Article
Hepatic peliosis
Hepatic peliosis is a rare benign vascular condition characterized by dilatation of sinusoidal blood-filled spaces within the liver. There may be involvement of other organs, most commonly the spleen and bone marrow. It can be seen in a variety of settings and is important as appearances may mim...
Article
Regenerative liver nodule
Regenerative liver nodules are a form of non-neoplastic nodules that arise in a cirrhotic liver.
Terminology
This may be slightly different from the term nodular regenerative hyperplasia, which are described histopathologically as regenerative nodules with little or no hepatic fibrosis and lar...
Article
Choledochal cyst
Choledochal cysts represent congenital cystic dilatations of the biliary tree. Diagnosis relies on excluding other conditions as a cause of biliary duct dilatation, e.g. tumor, gallstone, inflammation.
Epidemiology
Choledochal cysts are rare, with an incidence of 1:100,000-150,000. Although th...
Article
Hypervascular liver lesions
Hypervascular liver lesions are findings that enhance more or similarly to the background hepatic parenchyma in the late arterial phase, on contrast-enhanced CT or MRI.
Differential diagnosis
Non-neoplastic
focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH)
bright arterial phase enhancement except central scar...
Article
Sinusoidal obstruction syndrome
Sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS), previously known as hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD), is a condition arising from occlusion of hepatic venules.
Clinical presentation
right upper quadrant pain
painful hepatomegaly
ascites
abnormal liver function tests
Pathology
Toxic injury to l...
Article
Hepatic leiomyosarcoma
Hepatic leiomyosarcomas are rare primary malignant tumors derived from smooth muscle cells in the liver.
Epidemiology
Hepatic leiomyosarcoma is rare 1. An equal sex distribution and a broad age range (5 months-66Y) has been reported. Some have suggested an associated with AIDS 2.
Pathology
T...
Article
Pancreas transplant
A pancreas transplant is a major surgical procedure in which a donor pancreas is transplanted into a recipient. The donor pancreas is typically cadaveric, but may rarely be a segment from a living donor 1. The transplant is meant to establish normoglycemia in patients with diabetes mellitus, typ...
Article
Hepatic hemangioma
Hepatic hemangiomas or hepatic venous malformations are the most common benign vascular liver lesions. They are frequently diagnosed as an incidental finding on imaging, and most patients are asymptomatic. From a radiologic perspective, it is important to differentiate hemangiomas from hepatic m...
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