[Periportal hyperechogenicity of the liver. Clinical aspects and pathology of the so-called fixed star heaven phenomenon of the liver]

The clinical significance of the sonographic finding "periportal hyperechogenicity", which is characterized by hard periportal echoes, is largely undetermined. This phenomenon has been reported in a large number of disorders, as well as in healthy persons.A prospective study of 1853 patients revealed this finding in 12 cases. These 12 patients were followed up after two to four months.Only four cases were seen to still have diffuse periportal accentuation in the follow-up, while five patients showed a partially and three a completely normal liver. The laboratory values of these 12 patients were largely normal at the time of diagnosis and follow-up. Periportal accentuation was not correlated with any hepatological disorders. Examination using two different ultrasound devices revealed no major differences.Overall, these findings confirm the earlier assumption that this sonographic picture designated as periportal hyperechogenicity or accentuation is not diagnostic of any hepatological disorder, nor is it even a sign of disease, because most patients with this phenomenon can be termed hepatologically "healthy".