Traditionally, the abdominal cavity has been divided into a number of peritoneal, retroperitoneal, and extraperitoneal spaces. Although it is useful for learning abdominal anatomy and appreciating the confinement of disease in a particular space, this classic approach affords limited understanding…
Splenic Trauma The spleen is the most commonly injured organ in blunt abdominal trauma. , It receives 5% of the cardiac output, accounts for 25% of the total reticuloendothelial cell mass, and plays a major role in clearing the plasma…
Although it is affected by many diseases, the spleen is not considered a great challenge to the radiologist. In daily practice, the size and shape of the spleen typically are subjectively evaluated, and if there is no obvious splenomegaly or…
Pancreatic Trauma Traumatic injury to the pancreas is rare and difficult to diagnose. The retroperitoneal location of the pancreas is a mixed anatomic blessing in patients with abdominal trauma. Its fixed position anterior to the vertebral column provides excellent protection…
Introduction Benign, borderline, and malignant neoplasms can arise from exocrine, endocrine, intraductal, and stromal elements within the pancreas. Additionally, secondary (metastatic) neoplasms and non-neoplastic tumor-like conditions (e.g., mass-forming chronic pancreatitis) can occur. The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes over 50…
Pancreatitis is one of the most complex and clinically challenging of all abdominal disorders. It remains a major diagnostic challenge because its clinical manifestations are as protean as its causes. Indeed, only one in five severe cases of acute pancreatitis…
Hepatic Trauma CLASSIFICATION OF HEPATIC TRAUMA The management of hepatic trauma patients has evolved significantly during the last three decades and is now based on well-defined treatment algorithms. This has highlighted the need for an accurate classification system as a…
The liver has a unique, dual blood supply in which 25% of the flow comes from the hepatic artery and 75% through the portal vein. There is an inverse relationship between these two blood supplies. If portal flow decreases, arterial…
The liver has quite accurately been called the custodian of the milieu intérieur, and is vulnerable to a variety of metabolic, vascular, toxic, infectious, and neoplastic insults. Diffuse liver disease can be diagnostically challenging because of nonspecific and overlapping clinical…
Technologic advances have significantly enhanced the role of radiology in the detection, characterization, and management of focal infectious diseases of the liver. Today, all cross-sectional techniques allow highly accurate detection of focal hepatic infections. Computed tomography (CT) is particularly helpful…