Presentation
Hepatitis, distended abdomen
Patient Data
Age: 70 years
Gender: Female
From the case:
Ascites
Frontal
Bowel loops displaced medially by ascitic fluid lying between properitoneal fat line and colon. Inferior angles of liver and spleen obscured. Fluid attenuation superior to bladder.
From the case:
Ascites
Coronal non-contrast
Demonstrates ascites distribution along the paracolic gutters, around the inferior liver and spleen and in the paravesical fossae, separated from the bladder by a fat layer.
Case Discussion
Although radiographs are insensitive to ascites compared to cross-sectional imaging, large volume ascites is clearly recognisable as it obscures liver and spleen margins, displaces bowel and settles in the paravesical fossae appearing as ‘bladder ears’.