Value of B-scan ultrasonography in the diagnosis of liver cancer. Accuracy compared to scintigraphy and angiography.

Seventy-one patients with liver cancer were examined by B-scan ultrasonography. The presence of liver cancer was assumed through the irregularity and increased intensity of echos. The accuracy of ultrasonography in the diagnosis of liver cancer was 72%, while the diagnostic accuracy of scintigraphy was 85% and angiography 93%. No obvious correlation could be demonstrated between the ultrasonographic patterns and serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels. Ultrasonography is a useful method of detecting liver cancer.