Dynamic flow (B-flow) versus power Doppler imaging in a case of carotid body tumor
✍ Scribed by Zulkif Bozgeyik; Ercan Kocakoc
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2007
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 112 KB
- Volume
- 35
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0091-2751
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✦ Synopsis
Dynamic Flow (B-Flow) versus Power Doppler Imaging in a Case of Carotid Body Tumor C arotid body tumors are hypervascular neo- plasms originating from paraganglionic tissue. 1 Sonography, especially color or power Doppler sonography, is very useful in the diagnosis of carotid body tumors. 2 Dynamic flow imaging or B-mode flow imaging is a new technique that can demonstrate vascular anatomy better than other sonographic techniques. 3 We present the B-flow imaging findings of a carotid body tumor located at the carotid bifurcation. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of dynamic flow imaging of carotid body tumors.
A 38-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with complaints of slowly increasing neck swelling. Gray-scale sonography showed a homogeneous, weakly echogenic mass located at the carotid bifurcation. The lesion splayed the carotid bifurcation and displaced the internal carotid artery posteriorly and the external carotid artery anteriorly. We observed abundant flow within the entire mass on power Doppler images. B-flow images were void of blooming artifacts (Figures and). The patient refused further radiologic examination and underwent surgery. The histopathologic diagnosis was carotid body tumor.
When a solid, weakly echogenic mass is detected within the carotid bifurcation, carotid body tumors should be considered. The presence of abundant internal vascularization on power Doppler images supports the diagnosis of carotid body tumor. 2 Power Doppler sonography is essentially angle-independent and free of aliasing. It can assess slow flow and blood volume. B-flow imaging boosts the weak signals from blood reflectors and suppresses unwanted signals from tissues. 3 It also provides higher spatial resolution of vessel anatomy and higher frame rate hemodynamic imaging than power Doppler imaging. B-flow imaging can display vascular lumen clearly without causing blooming artifact.