Gray scale echographic patterns of hepatic metastatic disease.

Abnormal gray scale hepatic echograms in 76 patients with known or suspected metastatic disease were reviewed. A varied echographic pattern was found, with the gray scale appearances falling into three identifiable categories (dense, lucent, and bulls-eye) and a fourth group difficult to characterize. Prior chemotherapy seemed to have little consistent effect on echographic patterns. A pattern of dense lesions was associated in a large percentage of cases with adenocarcinoma. Carcinoma of the colon commonly produced this appearance. The remaining echographic patterns showed little correlation with specific primary sites or cell types.