B-flow imaging of the hepatic vasculature: correlation with color Doppler sonography

OBJECTIVE: B-flow imaging is a non-Doppler technology that provides real-time imaging of blood flow during gray-scale sonography. The utility of B-flow imaging is reflected in numerous publications that describe normal and pathologic findings in the carotid arteries and hemodialysis fistulas. However, there is a paucity of articles describing B-flow imaging of the abdominopelvic viscera. The purpose of this article is to illustrate a spectrum of findings encountered during noninvasive flow evaluation of the hepatic vasculature, correlating the Doppler sonography and B-flow imaging findings. CONCLUSION: Color and spectral Doppler sonography are invaluable for noninvasive evaluation of the hepatic vasculature. However, a number of pitfalls and artifacts have been described that can cause important pathologic findings to be overlooked or can suggest incorrect diagnoses. In our experience, B-flow imaging often correctly displays normal and pathological vascular structures for which Doppler sonographic findings have been misleading or erroneous.