Hyperechoic appearance of hepatic parenchyma on ultrasound examination of patients with blunt hepatic injury.

OBJECTIVE: To study the significance of a geographic hyperechoic liver parenchyma pattern on ultrasound (US) examination of patients with blunt abdominal injury.
DESIGN: Prospective clinical study with double-blind evaluation of images and clinical data. METHODS AND MAIN
RESULTS: We performed US examinations in 831 consecutive patients admitted to our hospital for blunt abdominal trauma and identified 33 with a geographic hyperechoic pattern in the liver. We correlated the appearance with computed tomographic images and with clinical, angiographic, and scintigraphic data. All patients with a geographic hyperechoic pattern showed mild computed tomographic evidence of hepatic injury (Mirvis grade 2, 69%; Mirvis grade 3, 31%). Excluding patients who required urgent surgery for other reasons and patients in shock, patients with the geographic hyperechoic pattern were managed conservatively with no complications.
CONCLUSION: The geographic hyperechoic pattern of liver parenchyma on US examination of trauma patients is a mild injury that, of itself, does not require surgical therapy.