Audience: Medical Students and Residents


Learning Objectives:
Describe the relative echogenicity of the liver and right kidney
Identify posterior acoustic shadowing and posterior acoustic enhancement
Identify and describe the sonographic appearance of calculi (renal/gallbladder) and simple cysts


Summary:
The normal liver is hyperechoic to the normal kidney
Gallstones and renal stones are hyperechoic with posterior acoustic shadowing
Renal cysts arise from the cortex of the kidney, and are anechoic with posterior acoustic enhancement