Objective: To evaluate the characteristic high-frequency color Doppler ultrasonography (CDUS) finding of Fitz-Hugh–Curtis syndrome (FHCS).
Methods: Six consecutive women with FHCS and five women presenting with non-specifically diagnosed acute right upper quadrant abdominal pain who underwent high-frequency CDUS and triple-phase CT scans were studied. Two FHCS patients retrospectively underwent CDUS accompany CT scans. Four FHCS patients prospectively underwent CDUS accompanied by CT scans. Between right anterior intercostals levels, a 7-MHz or 8-MHz linear array transducer were performed to evaluate the vascularity of anterior liver surface. In three FHCS patients, follow-up high-frequency CDUS were performed on 4 weeks and 12 weeks later.
Results: In all six FHCS patients, high-frequency CDUS revealed a parallel vessel flow in parietal peritoneum along the right anterior liver surface at right anterior 6th and 7th intercostals level. The parallel vessel flow on CDUS corresponded with an engorged parasitic vessel from right internal thorasic artery on their arterial phase CT scans. The parallel vessel flow disappeared on follow-up CDUS. In five women with non-specifically diagnosed acute abdominal pain, the high-frequency CDUS did not depict the parallel vessel flow.
Conclusion: The parallel vessel flow in parietal peritoneum along the right anterior liver surface between right anterior 6th and 7th intercostals level on high-frequency CDUS is a characteristic finding of FHCS.