Liver Ultrasound - Indications, Procedure, and Common Findings

What Is the Anatomy of the Liver?

The largest organ in the human body is the liver. It is an opaque reddish-brown organ and is found in the upper right side of the stomach, under the diaphragm, and above the gut, right kidney, and intestines. The wedge-shaped liver is composed of two main lobes. Each lobe consists of thousands of lobules. These lobules are attached to small ducts that bind with larger ducts to finally form the hepatic duct. The hepatic duct pushes the bile (the fluid that enables the breakdown of fats and gets rid of debris in the body) that is produced by the liver cells to the gallbladder and duodenum (the foremost part of the small intestine).

What Are the Functions of the Liver?

The following are the functions of the liver:

• Making Bile: Bile is a fluid that helps in the breakdown of fats. It also helps in getting rid of feces in the body.

• Transforming food into power.

• Emptying the blood from drugs and other poisonous substances.

• Stimulating specific proteins for blood plasma.

• Controlling blood clotting.

• The spleen, an egg-shaped organ that exists between the stomach and the diaphragm on the left portion of the body, enables the blood to remain healthy. The spleen plays a part in the exposition of lymphocytes (also known as white blood cells that fight illness), the destruction of red blood cells, and the filtering and storing of blood.

• The biliary system is composed of the organs and ducts (bile ducts, gallbladder, and related parts) that yield and transport bile.

What Is Liver Ultrasound?

Ultrasound utilizes sound waves to create impressions that enable physicians to analyze a spectrum of liver disorders involving fatty liver, liver cancer, and other conditions like gallstones. A liver ultrasound is a class of transabdominal ultrasound, which implies that a technician examines the abdomen utilizing a machine that looks like a microphone. The procedure employs sound waves to develop digital impressions.

What Are the Different Types of Ultrasound Scans?

Doctors nowadays incorporate a liver ultrasound with different techniques to get an additional accurate impression and analyze possible problems. A few typical kinds of liver ultrasound scans comprise the following:

• Contrast Imaging: This implicates infiltrating dye into the blood vessels to form it manageable to check the liver and its associated parts. It is particularly beneficial for analyzing expansions and lesions on the liver and detecting liver cancer.

• Elastography: This is a procedure to check how inflexible the liver tissue is, which usually leads to cirrhosis. It refers to providing a sequence of pulses to the liver to check the liver tissue.

• Combined Techniques: It is a combination of techniques, such as ultrasound and an MRI scan.

What Are the Indications of Liver Ultrasound?

The following are the indications for liver ultrasound:

• Liver disease refers to a cluster of disorders influencing the liver. Such conditions have various reasons, but all of them harm the liver and involve an individual’s general health.

• Hepatitis (inflammation of the liver).

• Fatty liver disease (accumulation of fat in the liver).

• Autoimmune liver disorders.

• Liver cancer.

• Liver fibrosis.

• Cirrhosis.

• Liver failure, which indicates scarring and active injury from liver disease.

• Jaundice and distress in the upper right portion of the abdomen at the area of the liver.

How to Prepare for the Liver Ultrasound?

The following tips to be followed:

• Do not intake any edibles and liquid for eight hours prior to the test.

• Water is allowed.

• Make sure to reach 15 minutes prior to the allotted meeting duration.

• Wear dresses that fit comfortably.

• Bring the compulsory drugs that have been specified earlier.

What Happens During a Liver Scan?

A liver scan is accomplished on an outpatient basis mostly but can be performed as part of the patient’s stay in a hospital. The following points are to be taken into notice while performing a liver scan:

• The patient has to put off any clothes, jewelry, or different entities that have the ability to impede the technique and will be provided a gown to wear.

• An intravenous (IV) infusion will be commenced in the forearm for injecting the radionuclide.

• The radionuclide is infused into the vein of the patient. The radionuclide has been authorized to crystallize in the liver tissue for around 30 minutes.

• The patient has to lie still on an examination table, as any motion can impact the quality of the test.

• The scanner is to be positioned over the right upper quadrant of the abdomen so as to detect the gamma radiations being ejected by the radionuclide injected into the liver tissue.

• The intravenous line will be removed once the scan is completed.

What Are the Common Findings of Liver Ultrasound?

The following are the common findings of liver ultrasound:

• Heavy sediments in the liver.

• Scarring and hardening of the liver.

• Hepatic inflammation.

• Various kinds of hepatitis, like viral hepatitis.

• Liver fibrosis.

• Hepatic cirrhosis.

• Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

• Liver damage due to alcohol.

• Pregnancy-related liver damage, like cholestasis and cholangitis.

• Gallstones.

• Hepatic carcinoma.

• Infections in the hepatic cells.

• Blockages in the ducts.

• Hemangioma (clumping of blood vessels).

What Is an Echogenic Liver?

The echogenic liver is the condition when the echoes from the ultrasound appear brighter than moderate. If it is exceptionally luminous, it suggests that the patient has conditions such as fatty liver, cirrhosis, and chronic hepatitis. Communicable infections are also comprehended to produce the organ look brighter.

Conclusion

Liver ultrasound is important as it reviews the blood flow of the liver inside the portal and hepatic veins. The hepatic veins trip from the liver to the heart before being drained. Therefore, demonstrating their crucial part within the body and why they should be scanned using ultrasound. Those individuals suffering from cirrhosis, hepatitis, and different liver conditions obtained blood tests accentuating the drift of explicit enzymes inside the organ are usually requested to carry a liver scan. This permits physicians to test the functionality of the liver tissue. The article reviews the detailed explanation of liver ultrasound.