Ultrasound in the evaluation and diagnosis of jaundice

Our experience in the evaluation and diagnosis of jaundice by ultrasound in a consecutive series of patients examined in the past year is reported. A final diagnosis is available in 49 patients with obstructive jaundice and 41 patients with nonobstructive jaundice. The accuracy of separation into these two groups is 97% in this series. We would like to stress the value of ultrasound as a complete investigation in many jaundiced patients. In this series a full diagnosis of the cause of jaundice was achieved in 58% of patients.