INFLAMED PERICHOLECYSTIC FAT - COLOR DOPPLER FLOW IMAGING AND CLINICAL-FEATURES

PURPOSE: To analyze the color Doppler flow imaging features and clinical importance of inflamed pericholecystic fat. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty patients with surgically proved right upper quadrant inflammatory lesions in the gallbladder or the pericholecystic space underwent color Doppler sonography (CDS). Findings in the pericholecystic space were correlated with those at computed tomography (CT) in four patients and with surgical findings in 40 patients. RESULTS: CDS performed in 12 (30%) of the 40 patients demonstrated echogenic pericholecystic masses greater than 1 cm in diameter that contained internal vascularity. CT in four patients and surgical findings in all 12 patients demonstrated inflamed fat adherent to the gallbladder. CONCLUSION: Identification with CDS of inflamed pericholecystic fat may provide preoperative information that could be pertinent in the decision to perform open or laparoscopic cholecystectomy in patients with acute cholecystitis.