RESUMO
We reviewed sonographic findings and evaluated the impact of conventional ultrasound (US) in the management of 99 consecutive black africans with liver cirrhosis. Patients were studied in the University teaching Hospital of Yaoundé (Cameroon). There were 73 males and 26 females, with a mean age of 49 years (range 15 to 71 years). 90 p. cent patients presented with symptoms suggestive of liver disease. The commonest sonographic liver abnormalities were: echo coarseness with poor depiction of intrahepatic vessels, irregularity of the liver surface, hypertrophy of caudate lobe, hepatomegaly, and decreased beam penetration through the liver. Ascitis and other signs of portal hypertension were present respectively in 44 p. cent and 33 p. cent of subjects. 15 p. cent of subjects had hepatocellular carcinoma. Choletithiasis was seen in 6 subjects (6%), and chronic pancreatitis in 3 patients (3 p. cent). For 21 patients (21 p. cent), US depicted significant abdominal disease which was not clinically suspected, and for 10 patients (10 p. cent), it discovered silent liver cirrhosis. Our findings suggest that conventional US may be a useful tool in the management of some black african subjects with liver cirrhosis.