Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) assesses omental lesion nature, but CEUS-guided biopsy feasibility, effectiveness, and safety are uncertain.

From January 2020 to January 2024, patients scheduled for ultrasound-guided omental biopsy at the First Hospital of China Medical University were enrolled. They were divided into CEUS-guided and conventional ultrasound-guided groups, balanced using propensity score matching (PSM). Success rate, diagnostic accuracy, and complication rate were compared. Subgroup analyses considered sonographic features, with significance at p < 0.05.

After PSM, 310 CEUS-guided and 160 conventional ultrasound-guided patients were analyzed. Groups were similar in demographics and omental characteristics (p > 0.05). CEUS-guided biopsy had higher sample acquisition (97.42% vs. 93.13%, p = 0.029) and diagnostic accuracy (96.03% vs. 87.92%, p = 0.002). Overall complication rate was 9.36% (44/470), with distant metastasis in 0.43% (2/470). Complication rates did not differ significantly between groups. In hyperechoic group, dense group, and non-nodule group, CEUS-guided biopsy had higher success (97.99% vs. 92.55%, p = 0.042) and accuracy (96.48% vs. 86.17%, p = 0.002). In non-nodule group, CEUS-guided accuracy was superior (93.41% vs. 84.11%, p = 0.015).

Ultrasound-guided omental biopsy is a safe and effective method for obtaining samples. CEUS-guided omental biopsy enhances sample acquisition and diagnostic accuracy, especially in hyperechoic group, dense group, and non-nodule group, suggesting it is a more accurate and effective diagnostic method.

Question Selecting a puncture site for diffuse lesions of the greater omentum presents challenges, as conventional ultrasound-guided biopsy often encounters difficulties in avoiding local necrotic tissue. Findings Ultrasound-guided biopsy of the greater omentum is a safe and effective diagnostic method, especially when augmented with CEUS, which can significantly enhance diagnostic accuracy. Clinical relevance CEUS can markedly enhance diagnostic accuracy by providing a robust foundation for selecting the biopsy site and pathway. Therefore, it is advisable to routinely employ CEUS-guided puncture pathways for atypical omental lesions.

In 2020, we introduced the Greater Omentum Imaging-Reporting and Data System (GOI-RADS), a novel classification system related to peritoneal lesions. However, its clinical application remained unvalidated.

This study aimed to validate GOI-RADS, optimize its parameters for a new grading system, and explore its clinical usefulness.

A retrospective-prospective study was conducted to validate and refine the GOI-RADS system. The study consisted of two phases: a retrospective validation phase and a prospective application phase. The first phase included patients with peritoneal lesions from 2019 to 2021, classified by GOI-RADS and verified against pathology. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and real-time elastography (RTE) data were collected for developing a new grading system. Odds ratios optimized parameters. The second phase (2021-2024) assessed diagnostic consistency among sonographers and performance of grading systems.

Among 215 patients with peritoneal lesions, the actual malignancy rates for GOI-RADS 2 (40.00%) and GOI-RADS 3 (61.22%) were much higher than predicted (5.56% and 37.25%). Combining CEUS and RTE parameters showed varying sensitivity and specificity: RTE + GOI-RADS (95.35%, 55.56%) and CEUS + GOI-RADS (96.51%, 44.44%). However, the grading system based on multiple ultrasound parameters, specifically when incorporating RTE, CEUS parameters, and GOI-RADS (Multi-GOIRADS), exhibited the highest diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of 88.37% and 83.33%, respectively. Its simplified version, sMulti-GOIRADS, had sensitivity of 73.26% and specificity of 94.44%. In the prospective study involving three sonographers of different qualifications, the use of sMulti-GOIRADS was found to be the most time-efficient and showed excellent diagnostic consistency among them. In contrast, Multi-GOIRADS required more time for scoring but offered superior diagnostic performance, particularly among senior sonographers (88.35% and 91.43%).

This study proposes a multiparametric ultrasound-based imaging-reporting and data system for risk stratification of omental malignancy, Multi-GOIRADS, and presents an optimized and simplified version, sMulti-GOIRADS, which demonstrates excellent diagnostic consistency and performance in clinical applications.

EUS has become an increasingly used diagnostic and therapeutic modality in the armamentarium of endoscopists. With ever-expanding indications, EUS is being used in patients with liver disease, for both diagnosis and therapy. EUS is playing an important role in providing additional important information to that provided by cross-sectional imaging modalities such as computerized tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. Domains of therapy that were largely restricted to interventional radiologists have become accessible to endosonologists. From liver biopsy and sampling of liver lesions to ablative therapy for liver lesions and vascular interventions for varices, there is increased use of EUS in patients with liver disease. In this review, we discuss the various diagnostic and therapeutic applications of EUS in patients with various liver diseases.

The role of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) as a diagnostic and therapeutic modality for the management of various gastrointestinal diseases has been expanding. The imaging or intervention for various liver diseases has primarily been the domain of radiologists. With the advances in EUS, the domain of endosonologists is rapidly expanding in the field of hepatology. The ability to combine endoscopy and sonography in one hybrid device is a unique property of EUS, together with the ability to bring its probe/transducer near the liver, the area of interest. Its excellent spatial resolution and ability to provide real-time images coupled with several enhancement techniques, such as contrast-enhanced (CE) EUS, have facilitated the growth of EUS. The concept of "Endo-hepatology" encompasses the wide range of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures that are now gradually becoming feasible for managing various liver diseases. Diagnostic advancements can enable a wide array of techniques from elastography and liver biopsy for liver parenchymal diseases, to CE-EUS for focal liver lesions to portal pressure measurements for managing various liver conditions. Similarly, therapeutic advancements range from EUS-guided eradication of varices, drainage of bilomas and abscesses to various EUS-guided modalities of liver tumor management. We provide a comprehensive review of all the different diagnostic and therapeutic EUS modalities available for the management of various liver diseases. A synopsis of all the technical details involving each procedure and the available data has been tabulated, and the future trends in this area have been highlighted.

Ultrasonography is not the most cited imaging technique for the evaluation of infectious and neoplastic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and the peritoneum, but it is often the initial technique used in the initial workup for nonspecific clinical syndromes. Despite its limitations, ultrasonography's strengths enable it to provide meaningful diagnostic information. To discuss the most important ultrasonographic, clinical, and epidemiological findings for infectious disease, we follow a topographical approach: stomach (Anisakis), proximal small bowel (Giardia lamblia, Strongyloides stercoralis, Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare complex, and Cryptosporidium), distal small bowel (Yersinia, Salmonella, and Campylobacter), terminal ileum and cecum (tuberculosis), right colon (Entamoeba histolytica), left colon (Shigella), sigmoid colon and rectum, pancolitis (Clostridium difficile, Cytomegalovirus, and Escherichia coli), and peritoneum. To discuss the ultrasonographic and clinical findings of the most common neoplastic diseases, we follow a nosological approach: polyploid lesions as precursors of tumors, carcinomas, neuroendocrine tumors, hematological tumors, mesenchymal tumors, and metastases. We briefly discuss tumors of the peritoneum and the use of ultrasonography to guide percutaneous biopsy procedures.