Liver Doppler

This is an examination that is carried out in order to study the vessels that supply the liver. Generally, it is a study performed in patients with chronic liver damage or hepatitis, in search of vascular complications.

Doppler ultrasound is a method that serves to accurately evaluate the hepatic portal venous system, obtaining information that allows diagnosing portal venous hypertension, evaluating the presence of portosystemic communications in the most advanced cases, as well as the evaluation of transjugular portosystemic communication intrahepatic (TIPS), used in the management of patients with esophageal variceal bleeding, among other indications.

Ultrasound continues to be the first imaging investigation in the study of patients with chronic liver disease, as it allows the attending physician, quickly and efficiently, to know the morphological status of the organs involved and, in addition, through the Doppler study, to assess the characteristics of the flow of the portal system from the quantitative point of view (flow velocity) and qualitative (permeability and flow direction as well as the presence of collateral circulation vessels). It also makes it possible to evaluate all the structures of the abdominal cavity and investigate associated pathologies, such as the hepatorenal syndrome. In favor of this technique are also; its low cost, easy handling, reproducibility and absence of interventionism, all with high sensitivity and specificity, superior to that of other complex diagnostic imaging techniques, such as computerized axial tomography or nuclear magnetic resonance.