Ercan Ayaz

By Ercan Ayaz

Ultrasound and conventional radiographs still remain the first-line radiological tools for most of the kidney disorders. Ultrasonographic image quality has been astonishingly improved in recent years with the development of technology and software algorithms. In line with these developments, ultrasound is not only the primary imaging modality for kidney anatomy and lesions, but also sufficient for definitive diagnosis and follow up for some lesions. The aim of this chapter is to focus on the areas that ultrasound is used primarily about the kidney. These topics include kidney anatomy, anatomic variants that mimic lesions, congenital diseases, kidney stones, nephrocalcinosis, most of the cystic diseases, and some solid lesions, infection, and trauma.

Part of the book: Essentials of Abdominal Ultrasound

By Ercan Ayaz

With recent technologies, ultrasound has become an extremely useful imaging modality for evaluating children with acute abdominal symptoms. Higher frequency transducers can be used in children than in adults, owing to their small body size, the presence of less fat tissue in the abdominal wall and peritoneal cavity leading to higher resolution than computed tomography in many circumstances without exposure to ionizing radiation. Real-time ultrasound imaging provides information about motion such as peristalsis, and newly developed harmonic imaging enables improved resolution with decreased artifacts. Beyond gray-scale ultrasound, color Doppler ultrasound provides information on vascularity which increases in inflammatory processes. Point-of-care examination includes ability to focus on the symptomatic area of the patient while performing real-time ultrasound imaging. Ultrasound is sufficient for the diagnosis of several gastrointestinal diseases that cause acute abdominal pain in pediatric patients helping to an accurate patient management in the emergency settings. Common gastrointestinal indications for abdominal ultrasound in children are hypertrophic pyloric stenosis, acute appendicitis, intussusception, inflammatory bowel disease, malrotation, midgut volvulus, hernia, and necrotizing enterocolitis. In this chapter, typical sonographic findings of aforementioned diseases, and possible differential diagnoses were discussed.

Part of the book: Ultrasound Imaging