WES sign: Difference between revisions
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==Background== | ==Background== | ||
The "wall echo shadow" (WES) sign is observed in patients with a contracted gallbladder around a large gallstone. There are two parallel hyperechoenic lines (Wall) separated by a hypoechoic space (Echo), and distal shadowing (Shadow) from the gallstone. Patients with multiple gallstones can also produce the finding if the gallbladder is contracted around them. The sign can distinguish a gallstone from a loop of bowel when the entirety of the gallbladder is not visible due to the large shadowing. <ref>Rybicki FJ. The WES sign. Radiology. 2000;214 (3): 881-2[http://pubs.rsna.org/doi/pdf/10.1148/radiology.214.3.r00mr38881 PDF]</ref><ref>Macdonald | The "wall echo shadow" (WES) sign is observed in patients with a contracted gallbladder around a large gallstone. There are two parallel hyperechoenic lines (Wall) separated by a hypoechoic space (Echo), and distal shadowing (Shadow) from the gallstone. Patients with multiple gallstones can also produce the finding if the gallbladder is contracted around them. The sign can distinguish a gallstone from a loop of bowel when the entirety of the gallbladder is not visible due to the large shadowing. <ref>Rybicki FJ. The WES sign. Radiology. 2000;214 (3): 881-2[http://pubs.rsna.org/doi/pdf/10.1148/radiology.214.3.r00mr38881 PDF]</ref><ref>Macdonald F. et al. The WES triad - a specific sonographic sign of gallstones in the contracted gallbladder. Gastrointest Radiol. 1981;6 (1): 39-41</ref> | ||
==Images== | ==Images== | ||
Revision as of 23:24, 6 May 2014
Background
The "wall echo shadow" (WES) sign is observed in patients with a contracted gallbladder around a large gallstone. There are two parallel hyperechoenic lines (Wall) separated by a hypoechoic space (Echo), and distal shadowing (Shadow) from the gallstone. Patients with multiple gallstones can also produce the finding if the gallbladder is contracted around them. The sign can distinguish a gallstone from a loop of bowel when the entirety of the gallbladder is not visible due to the large shadowing. [1][2]
Images
Instructions
Perform a Gallbladder Ultrasound