[Reliability of sonography in diagnosing liver metastases in breast and bronchial cancer. A retrospective comparison of physical examination, laboratory tests and liver scintigraphy].

To determine the accuracy of liver sonography in the diagnosis of liver metastases, the results of 99 patients with breast or lung cancer were compared with liver scintigraphy, physical examination, laboratory tests, histological examination and clinical follow-up. Liver sonography proved to be an accurate method to demonstrate or exclude liver metastases, with a sensitivity of 78.6% and a specificity of 90.0%. The highest accuracy was achieved if the sonographic examination of the liver was performed while there was a clinical suspicion of liver metastases and if compoundscan sonography was supplemented by real-time sonography.