Pancreatic pseudocyst: comparative evaluation by sonography and computed tomography.

Fifty-four patients were referred to rule out pancreatic pseudocyst. These patients underwent both sonographic and abdominal computed tomographic (CT) examinations for the evaluation of suspected pseudocysts. Among the 54 cases were 24 with proven pseudocysts. CT correctly identified 23 of the 24 pseudocysts with one false-negative and two false-positive studies. With sonography, the studies were technically inadequate in 20 of the 54 patients examined. Sonography correctly diagnosed 18 of the 24 pseudocysts; however, in 10 of these 18 cases sonographic findings were incomplete relative to CT findings. There were one false-negative and three false-positive sonographic studies. On the basis of this study, it was concluded that CT is more accurate than sonography in both diagnosing and demonstrating the extent of pseudocysts of the pancreas.