Combined radionuclide and ultrasonic assessment of upper abdominal masses in children.

Two young adults and 22 children with upper abdominal masses were evaluated by hepatic scintigraphy and gray scale ultrasonography. Abnormal static scintigrams were subdivided into two groups on the basis of tumor vascularity as shown on the initial dynamic portion of the study. Ultrasonic evaluation resulted in four categories: uniformly densely reflective, densely reflective with internal sonolucencies, poorly reflective with some internal components, and sonolucent. Images of liver perfusion and radionuclide accumulation (scintigraphy) plus images of internal architecture (ultrasonography) allow accurate assessment of intra- or juxtahepatic masses. The combined information was more useful than that from either study alone.