Real-time high resolution ultrasound in the detection of biliary calculi.

A high-resolution real-time ultrasound sector scanner was used in the evaluation of patients with suspected gallbladder disease. This technique is noninvasive, requires minimal preparation, and takes less than five minutes for a thorough examination of the gallbladder and related anatomy. In 17 months, 959 patients were examined for suspected gallbladder disease and the gallbladder was adequately visualized in all but 5 patients. Follow-up information was obtained from surgery in 153 cases. There were 132 true-positive studies, 15 true-negative, 5 false-negative and one-false positive study. In a correlative study with oral cholecystography, calculi were detected ultrasonically in 5 cases that had been missed on the oral cholecystogram.