Echo Illusions
This term describes a structure that is completely black with no internal echoes.
What is anechoic?
This posterior feature appears as increased brightness deep to fluid.
What is posterior acoustic enhancement?
This shape is often described in benign lesions.
What is oval?
No color flow is seen within a lesion.
What is avascular?
A normal vein should do this when pressure is applied.
What is fully compress?
A simple cyst must be completely ______ internally.
What is anechoic?
A lesion is darker than surrounding tissue but not completely black.
What is hypoechoic?
A dense structure creates a clean dark band posteriorly.
What is posterior acoustic enhancement?
This orientation is more concerning in breast imaging.
What is taller-than-wide?
Flow is seen only around the outer edge of a lesion.
What is peripheral vascularity?
A vein that does not compress is described as:
What is non-compressible?
A simple cyst must demonstrate posterior ______.
What is enhancement?
A mass contains mixed bright and dark internal echoes.
What is heterogeneous?
A bright echogenic focus has no posterior shadow. Students assume stone. The missing feature is:
What is posterior acoustic shadowing?
A lesion appears oval but is vertically oriented. The more important descriptor is:
What is taller-than-wide?
Color speckle appears within a lesion at high gain. Before calling it hypervascular, you must confirm with:
What is spectral Doppler?
A vein compresses slightly but not fully. The correct descriptor is:
What is partially compressible (abnormal finding)?
A lesion is anechoic but contains a thin internal septation. It is no longer a:
What is a simple cyst?
A lesion is dark overall but has scattered internal echoes. Students often call it hypoechoic, but the more precise descriptor is:
What is heterogeneous?
This artifact produces multiple parallel echogenic lines deep to a strong reflector.
What is reverberation?
This border type suggests infiltration rather than encapsulation.
What are ill-defined margins?
A lesion demonstrates internal vascularity. This increases suspicion because simple cysts are:
What is avascular?
Internal echoes that move with patient repositioning are described as:
What are mobile echoes?
A lesion appears mostly anechoic but has internal vascularity. This excludes:
What is a simple cyst?
A lesion appears uniformly dark but is the same echogenicity as adjacent muscle.
What is isoechoic?
A curved structure produces shadowing at its edges due to refraction.
What is edge shadowing?
Multiple small outward projections along the border describe this margin type.
What is microlobulated?
Flow with continuous forward diastolic component is described as:
What is low-resistance flow?
A non-mobile echogenic focus that produces shadowing is more consistent with:
What is a stone or calcification?
List four criteria required for a simple cyst.
Anechoic
Thin, smooth walls
Posterior enhancement
No internal vascularity