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Sonographic relationship between gallbladder wall thickness and the etiology of ascites
Author(s) -
MartiBonmati Luis,
Andres Juan C.,
Aguado Cristina
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
journal of clinical ultrasound
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.272
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1097-0096
pISSN - 0091-2751
DOI - 10.1002/jcu.1870170707
Subject(s) - ascites , medicine , cirrhosis , etiology , gastroenterology , gallbladder , albumin , portal hypertension , radiology
Gallbladder wall thickness (GBWT) and serum albumin were determined in 54 patients with ascites. The statistical analysis of the results reveals a significant difference in GBWT between benign and malignant conditions ( p < 0.01). GBWT was significantly thicker in patients with cirrhosis than in those with malignant ascites ( p < 0.01) and other benign conditions. However, no significant differences were found between either cirrhotic cases with and without overlying hepatocarcinoma, or between noncirrhotic patients, malignant or otherwise. On comparing GBWT and simple routine sonography in establishing the etiology of ascites, the diagnostic reliability indices decreased with GBWT. This shows that GBWT determination lacks diagnostic importance in routine practice. No correlation was found between serum albumin and GBWT, which suggests that the increase in GBWT observed in cirrhotic patients is mainly the result of accompanying portal hypertension.