Liver ultrasound....freaking out

[Morry15]

Hello

I'm sorry to post about another 'health topic' but my anxiety is through the roof!

Had some left side abdominal pain and slight nausea (very unusual for me) for about a week. The GP ordered a CT abdominal scan. I'm not in the UK at the moment.

Hours!! after the scan the GP contacted me and said all was ok with my bowel, colon, abdomen area but something was seen on my liver (suspected liver hemangioma).

I understand a liver hemangioma is very common and nothing to worry about, however the GP has now referred me for a liver ultrasound. My concern is if it's nothing to worry about and was picked up on the CT scan why have the follow up ultrasound? The GP said its common protocol to confirm if it is indeed a hemangioma

I can't help but think there is more to it that the GP is not telling me.

Thank you for reading.

if they're not 100% certain (as you suggest by saying 'suspected' haemangioma) then they probably want to be certain. And even if they are certain they do sometimes need monitoring. Ultrasound and CT are different modalities of imaging that can give different information about findings.

They need to be sure it is that. Do accept any diagnostic screening/testing they offer. They are trying to find what's wrong and give you treatment as soon as possible. Please don't worry as it's good that they're investigating it.

I have a spinal one, picked up via MRI incidentally when I had a back issue. It just sits there not doing anything. They'll be looking to confirm it 100%, using a "belts and braces" approach. The GP would have no reason to hide anything from you.

I use the term 'suspected' as this is what is written on the ultrasound referral.

Thank you for your replies. I need to stop Googling!

I'm thinking this was picked up incidentally as part of the abdomen CT so if I hadn't have had the CT I'd be none the wiser.

I had this exact thing on a recent admission for my crohns. Something spotted in my liver on abdominal CT. I was sent for an ultrasound that was a total waste of time, as 3 different people tried and failed to find it, so ended up having a liver MRI that confirmed 2 haemangiomas. CT isn’t able to give a clear enough picture of these to be conclusive in diagnosing apparently.

I was in a major panic by the way, as the hospital Dr was very vague when telling me they spotted “something” on my liver. They didn’t even mention haemangiomas, so I guess at least your lot have given you a good idea of what it’s most likely to be.

Thank you so much for your responses.

My GP seemed quite annoyed with all my questions about why was an ultrasound needed. My other thought was the fact that the report came back within hours so in my mind Im thinking there is something wrong.

My ultrasound is scheduled for Wednesday so hopefully I'll be able to calm down over the next days

Thanks again.

My other half had a bowel cancer diagnosis and was told no apparent spread. Then just as we were heading off on holiday days after this we were told that a review by the Marsden to help decide on the extent of surgery had spotted a liver lesion. This hung over us all holiday and he had another scan on return and fortunately it was nothing of note. Similar thing happened when he had a uti post surgery, another scan picked up something on one of his kidneys which required further investigation. Again it was nothing. Scans often pick up things like this which then need further investigation out of an abundance of caution. Good luck op and try not to worry.

Hello Everyone

Just a quick update, there was a cancellation so managed to get my ultrasound done earlier (original appt was for Wednesday).

Similar to a previous poster, the sonographetr couldn't find all the 'masses' that were seen on the CT scan but what she did confirm was thst there were small liver haemangiomas that are apparently very common (in particular in females) and nothing to worry about.

She said if I'm really stressing to schedule another US in 9-12 months to see if there was any change. She stated not to do a CT or MRI as I would be exposing myself to unwarranted radiation.

Thank you to the posters for your kind words and previous experiences. It really helped.