ULTRASONOGRAPHY, A DIAGNOSTIC METHOD OF C HOICE IN HYPERTROPHIC PYLORIC-STENOSIS - EXPERIENCE WITH 67 PATIENTS

Hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (HPS) is a common medical emergency in n ewborns and lactating infants. Ultrasonoraphy (US) is the diagnostic i maging procedure of choice in most centers, leaving the radiological s tudy with barium for those cases in which US is negative and clinical symptoms persist or when other causes of vomiting must be discarded- W e report our experience in 67 children (58 male) with suspected HPS, T he US findings were consistent with HPS in 45 patients, and the diagno sis was surgically confirmed in all. In the remaining 22 patients with negative US findings, symptoms, improved during follow up, with medic al treatment. In one patient US was negative for HPS but showed an ant ral web, that was surgically confirmed. Since there were no false posi tive or negative results, the specificity and sensitivity of US for HP S diagnosis was 100%. We strongly recommend the use of US in patients with suspected HPS.