Puncture of focal liver lesions

The ability of modern ultrasound equipment to display subtle parenchymal changes of the liver has contributed substantially to the role of sonography in the evaluation of liver disease. The primary application has been the detection of focal liver lesions, but a large number of publications and ongoing investigations indicate that sonography may gain increasing importance in the future classification of diffuse or parenchymal liver disease as well. Focal lesions of the liver are not synonymous with metastatic deposits and a wide variety of benign pathological conditions may present with a focal appearance on sonography. The frequency of benign focal liver lesions is not a new discovery for the pathologist, but it must be recognized by sonographers.