ArticleJournal of ultrasound2018
CEUS in the differential diagnosis between biliary sludge, benign lesions and malignant lesions.
Article in Journal of ultrasound, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
- Ultrasound-guided percutaneous cholecystostomy for acute cholecystitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of ultrasound · 2026Pooled it
- Interpretation, Reporting, Imaging-Based Workups, and Surveillance of Incidentally Detected Gallbladder Polyps and Gallbladder Wall Thickening: 2025 Recommendations From the Korean Society of Abdominal Radiology.Korean journal of radiology · 2025Guideline
- Meta-analysis of contrast-enhanced ultrasound and contrast-enhanced harmonic endoscopic ultrasound for the diagnosis of gallbladder malignancy.BMC medical informatics and decision making · 2020Pooled it
- Application of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography for gallbladder squamous cell carcinoma: a case report.Frontiers in oncology · 2024Article
- SIUMB recommendations on the use of ultrasound in neoplastic lesions of the gallbladder and extrahepatic biliary tract.Journal of ultrasound · 2023Article
- GB-RADS score, a possible role for CEUS?Abdominal radiology (New York) · 2023Article
- Rapid Identification of Benign Gallbladder Diseases Using Serum Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Combined with Multivariate Statistical Analysis.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Diagnostic Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) for Abdominal Pain: A Case of Tumefactive Sludge.Cureus · 2023Article
- Contrast-enhanced ultrasound of the spleen, pancreas and gallbladder in children.Pediatric radiology · 2021Review
- Gallbladder polyps ultrasound: what the sonographer needs to know.Journal of ultrasound · 2021Review
- Vascular evaluation using transabdominal ultrasound for gallbladder polyps.Journal of medical ultrasonics (2001) · 2021Review
- Benign gallbladder diseases: Imaging techniques and tips for differentiating with malignant gallbladder diseases.World journal of gastroenterology · 2020Review
- Utility of multiple endoscopic techniques in differential diagnosis of gallbladder adenomyomatosis from gallbladder malignancy with bile duct invasion: A case report.World journal of clinical cases · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeConventional grayscale ultrasound (US) is accurate in the diagnosis of gallbladder disease (GD), but in some cases, it is not decisive. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) improves the diagnostic accuracy of US. The primary objective of this study is to assess the reliability of CEUS in the diagnosis of sludge; the secondary objective is to assess the ability of CEUS to diagnose cancer.
methodsWe retrospectively reviewed the US of 4137 patients positive for GD. In 43/4137 (1.04%), the use of could not discriminate between sludge and neoplasms. Then, we evaluated CEUS in only 39 of these patients, and in 4/43 (9%) cases it was not performable. After CEUS, the absence of enhancement was considered diagnostic for sludge, while contrast washout within 60 s diagnosed malignant lesions.
resultsAmong the 39 patients, 16 had biliary sludge and 23 had lesions of the gallbladder wall; 9 of these were carcinomas and 14 were benign tumors. The absence of enhancement was present in 16/16 patients with sludge and in 0/23 patients with lesions of the gallbladder (sensitivity and specificity 100%). Washout was within 60 s in 9/9 gallbladder carcinomas and 2/14 benign lesions (sensitivity 100%; specificity 85%).
conclusionsUS is confirmed to be accurate in the diagnosis of GD. In doubtful cases, CEUS is very accurate in biliary sludge diagnosis. An intralesional washout at 60 s is a pattern of malignancy that can orient towards a correct diagnosis, but it is limited by the presence of false positive results, especially for smaller lesions.
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