• V Simonovský.
• Clinic of Imaging Methods, Faculty Hospital Motol, Praha, Czech Republic.
• Clin Radiol. 1999 Aug 1;54(8):533-9.

AimThe aim of the study was to assess the value of sonography in detecting the normal appendix and in identifying abnormality.MethodsThe appendiceal wall thickness (normal: <3 mm) and ultraluminal contents (abnormal: large appendicolith, non-expressible fluid) were used as the primary criteria to determine the appendiceal status in 716 appendices. In patients who underwent appendicectomy (n = 166), surgical and histopathological findings were correlated with the ultrasound (US) findings; in patients who did not have surgery the reference standard was the clinical consensus based on follow-up.ResultsThirty-four patients out of 179 with abnormal sonographic findings did not undergo appendicectomy and recovered spontaneously; in 22 of these, the US changes were confined to the appendiceal tip. A normal appendix was identified in 537 patients (45.9% of all patients without appendicitis), with histologic verification subsequently obtained in 21. In 76 normal appendices (14.2% out of all normal appendices), luminal dilatation due to non-expressible inspissated faeces resulted in appendiceal outer diameter >6 mm (range, 6.2-12 mm); a histopathologic proof of non-inflamed appendix was obtained in seven of these.ConclusionsA normal appendix can be visualized in a high percentage of cases and it may present with an outer diameter >6 mm (the widely-accepted upper limit of normal) due to the inspissated faecal material within the lumen. A significant percentage of early appendicitis can resolve spontaneously, especially when confined to the appendiceal tip.

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