Ultrasonographic determination of the splenic size and its clinical usefulness in various liver diseases.

Contact ultrasonic tomography was employed to obtain the size of the spleen in vivo. The scanning was done parallel to the ribs, and the splenotomograms obtained by this method showed three basic patterns of enlargement: a soft, bulging spleen, splenic congestion, or a firm spleen. Of the 96 patients with liver disease studied by this technique, 95% gave evidence of splenic enlargement. Useful information on prognosis may be obtained by observing the changes in the sectional areas of the spleen.