[Value of ultrasound diagnosis in evaluating a round liver lesion]

Ultrasonography is a modern noninvasive imaging technique with a high resolution, and high accuracy in diagnostic questions, highly accepted by patients, with low costs, and no side effects. There are only a few questions to witch the diagnostic ultrasound is unable to answer satisfactorily. New techniques complete the nowadays basic (B-Mode, M-Mode, Color and Power Doppler) ultrasonography, like intraoperative ultrasonography, quantitative ultrasonography or ultrasonography with contrast agents. Depending on the tumor species, the sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of a liver mass diagnostic is more than 95%. Also in difficult situations such as cirrhosis of the liver, the ultrasonography is equal to other imaging procedures. The basis of the success is, beside of a high quality ultrasonographic equipment, an excellent training, a skilled examinator owning a long experience as well as a standardized, reproducible examination technique with an excellent documentation of the findings.