[Ultrasound as a diagnostic procedure in liver disease: results of 3000 sonographic investigations (author's transl)].

3000 sonographic examinations of the liver were performed. The results of 142 sonographic studies were compared with the findings obtained by subsequent laparoscopy and microscopy. In 90% there was good agreement between the sonographic diagnosis and the microscopic findings. Fatty liver (97%) and metastasis (95%) into the liver were diagnosed accurately. 3 hematomas of the liver were found in 150 patients who underwent liver biopsy. Sonographic examination of the liver is usefull in: (1) determining topographic anatomy of the liver before needle biopsy. (2) deciding the next diagnostic step within the catalogue of indications for the morphologic diagnosis of the liver given by the IASL. Ultrasound shortens diagnosis. (3) early diagnosis of hematoma after liver biopsy.