[Preoperative hepatic vascular evaluation: comparison of angiography and Doppler-echography]

Fourteen patients candidates to surgery for liver neoplasms (7 primitive cancers and 7 liver metastases) underwent a prospective double-blind study with digital angiography and Doppler US. The latter demonstrated the presence of the hepatomesenteric artery in all the 3 patients with this anatomical variant. In 2 cases with an early origin of the common hepatic artery, Doppler US allowed the detection of unusual signals from the left hepatic artery but could not exclude its origin from the left gastric artery. The quality of US information concerning portal flow was equal or superior to that of digital angiography in all cases. The use of Doppler US is suggested before angiography when morphologic-functional information is needed concerning the portal vein. However, this method cannot replace angiography in the routine study of hepatic artery patterns.