Premium
Early abdominal sonographic findings in patients with dengue fever
Author(s) -
Wu KengLiang,
Changchien ChiSin,
Kuo ChungHuang,
Chiu KingWah,
Lu ShengNan,
Kuo ChungMou,
Chiu YiChun,
Chou YehPin,
Chuah SengKee
Publication year - 2004
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.20060
Subject(s) - medicine , dengue fever , pleural effusion , serology , ascites , surgery , radiology , pathology , immunology , antibody
Purpose This study was conducted to evaluate the early sonographic findings in dengue hemorrhagic fever. Methods From July 2002 to September 2002, 86 patients were referred to our center with suspected dengue fever during an outbreak of the disease in Taiwan. All the patients underwent immediate abdominal sonography when they arrived at our emergency room. The diagnosis of dengue fever was subsequently confirmed by serology in 65 patients. Results All our patients had type 2 dengue fever, as confirmed by serologic tests. The sonographic features included a thickened gallbladder wall in 38 patients (59%), ascites in 24 patients (37%), splenomegaly in 22 patients (34%), and pleural effusion in 21 patients (32%); pleural effusion was either right‐sided or bilateral. Conclusions Abdominal sonography can be used as a first‐line imaging modality in patients with suspected dengue fever to detect early signs suggestive of the disease prior to obtaining serologic confirmation test results, especially in a dengue fever epidemic area. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound 32:386–388, 2004