[Potentials and limits of ultrasonic diagnosis in gastroenterology]

The great diagnostic value of ultrasonic tomography in the diagnosis of liver, biliary, pancreatic, gastric, intestinal, abdominal and retroperitoneal disease is reviewed and proved. Best results can be achieved in the indications for its application and the potentialities of the method are well known. The sonographic results should always be assessed with the clinical, laboratory and other instrumental data. The faulty diagnoses are due not to the method itself but to the incompetent interpretation of the sonographic images and to the lack of knowledge for the scope and limitations of sonography.