ABSTRACT
The objective of this study was to assess the validity of color doppler sonography in the evaluation of malignant portal vein thrombosis in hepatocellular carcinoma [findings on biphasic spiral computed tomography were used as the gold standard]. This study was conducted in the Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology at Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad from March 2009 to November 2009. A total of 100 patients those who were already diagnosed cases of HCC or those having high suspicion of HCC based on clinical criteria [e.g., chronic hepatitis B or C, liver cirrhosis, increased alpha fetoprotein level [>400ng/dl]] and /or Imaging findings [e.g., sonography, MRI, CT] were included in this study. Color doppler sonography had 80.7% sensitivity and 100% specificity in the detection of arterial flow in the portal vein thrombus [i.e., malignant thrombus] in comparison with biphasic CT [taken as gold standard]. Color doppler sonography is an effective, noninvasive method for evaluating the presence of malignant portal vein thrombosis associated with HCC