ULTRASOUND SCANNING

Diagnostic ultrasound scans for children and Adults
Ultrasound scanning is one of the most reliable diagnostic methods in modern medical practice, with many advantages:

It is a completely painless, fast and cost-effective method
There is no use of ionizing or other radiation that could be harmful to the human body
It can be frequently repeated and consists a useful tool in the monitoring of the course of your health

Ultrasounds are sound waves, of a very high frequency (over 20,000 Hz), which cannot be heard by the human ear. Special instruments record these sounds passing through the human body and thus we can examine the anatomy and the possible existence of pathological findings in all organs and also image tumors, nodules, cysts, calculi (stones), inflammatory foci, etc, in the human body.

Ultrasounds cannot pass through the air of through bones. The air in the abdomen does not permit to the ultrasounds to examine organs that lie behind the air mass. With the ultrasound scan it is possible to diagnose a high number of pathological conditions in children and adults, as well as to monitor their response to the administered treatment.

With the use of the Doppler and the color Triplex we can record the blood flow through the blood vessels (arteries and veins), and thus it is possible to find stenoses, occlusions, clots or other structural and functional disorders. Particularly for the carotid arteries, the control can contribute to the prevention of possible cerebral strokes.

The bone mass measurement with ultrasounds is a useful method, that is particularly cheap and easy, which can be applied for the initial osteoporosis screening in postmenopausal women. In women where a problem has been detected, it can be recommended subsequently to perform a DEXA scan, where the problem will be confirmed or not.

Elastorgraphy is essentially a new ultrasound technique, that allows the evaluation of the elasticity or hardness of the tissues that are examined during the ultrasound scanning process. A small pressure is applied to the skin at the point of the damage, as in the case of a palpation and the elasticity of the lesions and damages is mapped with different colors that allow its quantitative assessment. Elastography is used in breast, liver, thyroid, lymph node examinations.

Cancer presents in general a higher hardness, therefore elastography can provide the necessary information, so that biopsies are limited only to the ones that are absolutely necessary.

The ultrasound scan can give information about the precise place and composition of the lesion
Elastography informs us about the elasticity of the tissues. The ultrasound scan is a subjective examination and it is highly important that it is performed by well trained doctors that are experienced in this method and have a high knowledge of the diseases of the examined organs.

In our MEDICAL PRACTICE is performed, with knowledge and interest, a wide range of ultrasound scans of various organs and vessels of the human body. The examined person must be aware that for some of these examinations a special preparation is required before the examination. For more information, please contact us at the phone number 23100 292 99.

Ultrasound Scan of the Upper Abdomen

The organs we examine are the liver, gall bladder, pancreas, kidneys, spleen, retroperitoneal space, intestine and the walls of the abdomen (with the high frequency heads).

Liver
Gall Bladder
Pancreas
Kidneys
Spleen
Retroperitoneal space
Intestine
Abdominal walls
Preparation of the patient

You must not have eaten for at least six hours before the examination. It is good that you avoid, on the previous day, foods with cellulose, such as herbs, leguminous vegetables, vegetables and fruit, as well as dairy products (milk, yogurt). You can freely eat meat, fish, chicken, pasta. The reliability of the upper abdomen ultrasound scan, when it is performed by experienced physicians is close to the one of a Computing Tomography (CT)-scan and of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) *

*R.A. Kane, H.E. Longmaid and P. Costello et al., Noninvasive imaging in patients with hepatic masses: A prospective comparison of ultrasound, CT and MR imaging

RSNA Scientific Program 1993

Ultrasound Scan of the Lower Abdomen

With this ultrasound scan, we examine the organs of the lower abdomen and principally: the urinary bladder, the uterus and the ovaries, as well as the prostate.

Urinary bladder
Uterus
Ovaries
Fallopian tubes
Prostate

Hypertrophy of the prostate gland, urine residue in the examination after urination (proportional to the degree of hypertrophy). Further ultrasonographic examination is performed with the transvaginal ultrasound of the female internal genitalia and the transrectal ultrasound scan of the prostate. The preparation of the patient is necessary. The urinary bladder must be full during the examination. Thus, 2 hours before the examination you must drink 5-6 glasses of liquid (water, juice, etc.). You must not urinate before the examination.

Ultrasound Scan of the Cervix

The organs that are principally examined by the ultrasound scan of the cervix are the thyroid gland, the parathyroid glands, the salivary glands and the lymph nodes of the cervix.

Thyroid
Parathyroid Glands
Salivary Glands (parotid, submandibular)
Lymph Nodes
Ultrasound Scan of the Scrotum
The most frequent findings are:
Inflammations (epididymitis, orchitis)
Hematomas
Neoplasm
With the color Doppler scan can be depicted with high precision the varicoceles (enlarged veins within the scrotum) and the vascularization of the testicles (torsion, inflammation). Cryptorchidism check in children. There is no need for preparation of the patient.
Peyronie’s Disease

Peyronie’s disease, due to unknown causes, is characterized by the growth of a plaque (it has nothing to do with the atherosclerotic plaque in arteries) on the tunica albuginea of the corpus cavernosum of the penis.
The plaque starts as a local inflammation and then develops to a scar.

The disease varies from mild to severe. In the severe cases there is pain and bending with shortening of the penis during erection due to the plaques that hinder the expansion of the corpora cavernosa. The result of this are difficulties during the sexual intercourse.

A recent research gives a disease rate of 3.2% among men of an age between 30-80 years. Its treatment is difficult and in some cases there is self-remission of the disease.
Soft Tissue Ultrasound Scan

Triplex Vascular Ultrasound

With the color ultrasound scanning – Triplex, we can examine the blood flow through the blood vessels of the human body such as the aorta, the carotid arteries, the renal arteries, the veins and arteries of the lower and upper limbs.

Arteries

Check of atheromatous disease and of the degree of arterial stenosis (carotid arteries, aorta and arteries of the lower limbs). There is high reliability in the depiction of the quality of the atherosclerotic plaque in carotid arteries (plaque of low echogenicity, plaque ulceration) in order to define the risk of cerebral stroke for the patient. Detection of an aneurysm of the abdominal aorta and assessment of its rupture risk, depending on its diameter
Veins

Breast Ultrasound

What is it?

A breast ultrasound scan is an additional examination, with which can be “interpreted” diagnostic problems in mammography.

With a head that is suitable for female breasts, the anatomical structure of the breast as well as of the underarm area is depicted without any radiation.

Cysts and fibroadenomas can be easily detected and depicted with the use of ultrasounds while small cancer tumors can escape detection.

Breast inflammations and abscesses can be reliably detected and depicted by ultrasounds, as well as the dilation of milk ducts, while in some cases papillomas in them can be detected and depicted.
When is it recommended?
In dense breasts (with intense fibroglandular elements) where the detection rate of cancer is increased by 17% when it is combined with mammography
In case of a suspicious mammographic, non palpable mass
In case of a palpable mass
In case of tissue anarchy
In case of family history
In women under 35 years of age, that want to examine their breasts without receiving any radiation
For the determination in a high degree of the nature of a damage having the possibility of differential diagnosis of the simple cyst from compact type lesions
Also, every time that we wish to further examine a finding that has occurred by the clinical examination of mammography or even to confirm with a third examination, that our negative clinical examination and mammography are indeed negative and there are no findings in the ultrasound scan.
Is it dangerous?
Can it replace mammography?
NO. Ultrasound scanning is performed as an additional examination to the clinical examination and mammography in women of over 40 years of age.

mammography detects 85% of the non palpable masses.
ultrasound scanning detects 35% of the non palpable masses.
Mammography plus ultrasound examination detects 95% of palpable cancers.
Elastography

Breast elastography is a recent development in breast ultrasound scanning, which permits the detection of malignant tumors with higher precision.

Elastography permits the assessment of the elasticity or hardness of the tissues that are examined during the ultrasound scanning.

Cancers present, in general, a higher hardness, therefore elastography can provide the necessary information so that breast biopsies can be reduced to the ones that are absolutely necessary.

The examination is performed during the ultrasound scan, when further examination of a finding is required. Then, small pressure is applied to the skin at the point of the lesion, as in the case of a palpation. In this way images of the lesions and damages are produced, having as purpose the mapping of their elasticity with various colors that allow the quantitative evaluation of the elasticity of the tumors.
Breast elastography is a method that is simple, fast, absolutely painless, and cost-effective. You should never forget that through prevention, a woman can detect breast cancer at early stages when the possibility to treat it properly and successfully is 95%.