The Diagnostic Usefulness of Ultrasound-Guided Peritoneal Biopsy for the Solitary Peritoneal Thickening of an Unknown Cause Visualized as Only Infiltrated Fat Tissue on a CT Scan

Peritoneal lesion can be caused by several diseases such as malignancies and inflammation (1, 2). Identification of the cause of peritoneal lesion is often critical for appropriate treatment and predicting prognosis. In patients with peritoneal thickening, the diagnosis is often made on the basis of multiple factors, including the patients’ symptoms, laboratory tests and ascitic fluid analysis. But in some cases it is hard to differentiate peritoneal carcinomatosis from chronic inflammation including tuberculous peritonitis (3-6). Assessment of the pattern of peritoneal lesion in abdominal computed tomography (CT) may help to differentiate inflammatory involvement from malignant involvement. Indeed, smooth uniform peritoneal thickening is the prevalent pattern in inflammation, whereas nodular pattern is common in malignancies. The Diagnostic Usefulness of Ultrasound-Guided Peritoneal Biopsy for the Solitary Peritoneal Thickening of an Unknown Cause Visualized as Only Infiltrated Fat Tissue on a CT Scan CT