Pulsatile portal vein flow: a sign of tricuspid regurgitation on duplex Doppler sonography.

Abstract

Sonography and duplex Doppler frequently fail to identify a cause for right upper quadrant pain, liver dysfunction, or ascites. The aim of our study was to describe and analyze the pulsatile portal venous waveform in which minimum velocity dropped to or below zero on duplex Doppler sonography and to investigate its possible association with tricuspid regurgitation, one of the causes of liver dysfunction. We correlated the findings in 15 patients in whom this duplex Doppler waveform was seen with the findings on Doppler echocardiography (n = 14) or ultrafast CT (n = 1). All patients had biochemical liver abnormalities or sudden onset of ascites, rapid weight gain, increased abdominal girth, and hepatomegaly. They were referred for sonography to rule out liver metastases, biliary disease, portal vein thrombosis, or Budd-Chiari syndrome. All examinations were done with a 3-MHz phased-array sector transducer with duplex Doppler capability. Seventeen volunteers with no known liver or heart disease served as a ...