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PURPOSE: To determine the value of gray-scale ultrasonography (US) and Doppler US in the prediction, diagnosis, and prognostic assessment of hepatic veno-occlusive disease (HVOD). MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred patients (median age, 22 years; range, 18 months to 59 years) receiving total body irradiation or busulfan therapy as intensive treatment before hematopoietic stem cell transplantation were studied prospectively. Each patient underwent gray-scale and Doppler US examination before transplantation and weekly thereafter while hospitalized (about four examinations per patient). Seven gray-scale morphologic criteria and seven Doppler criteria were studied, yielding three individual scores: gray-scale score, Doppler score, and total score. RESULTS: Twenty-five patients developed HVOD; nine of these patients died. Positive predictive values of the 14 criteria were 31%-95%, and negative predictive values were 85%-96%. The three scores correlated with the clinical diagnosis of HVOD. Depending on the cutoff value, the positive predictive value of the total score was 44%-89% and the negative predictive value was 91%-98%. The gray-scale and Doppler criteria differed significantly between patients with HVOD and those with graft-versus-host disease of the liver (P = 10(-4)). CONCLUSION: Even if there is overlap in findings between patients with and those without HVOD, gray-scale and Doppler US are valid for positive and differential diagnosis and have predictive and prognostic relevance.
Lassau et al. (Fri,) studied this question.