Introduction Knowledge of the size of the liver is an important factor in diagnosing liver disease. Hepatomegaly is a term used to describe a liver that is enlarged beyond its normal dimensions, and ultrasound is often a front line investigation in the suspicion of hepatomegaly. This study sought to develop a reference range for the size of the normal liver using a simple, reliable and valid measurement technique. Methods Two ultrasound images of the liver and a blood test were taken from 126 participants. Three simple linear measurements were taken from these two images and converted to a liver volume using a published equation. Results The reference range for liver volume in adults without liver pathology was found to be 1060–2223 cm3. Conclusion This new measurement technique and reference range is simple and easy to perform in the clinical environment. It has the potential to discriminate a liver normal in size to one with hepatomegaly.

Introduction: Ultrasound is an easy and inexpensive method to rapidly assess the size of the adult liver. The literature addressing reliability of liver measurements using ultrasound is poorly reported and inadequate. In this study, intra and inter‐rater reliability of multiple measurements of the right lobe, left lobe and entire adult liver were assessed. Methods: Two examiners acquired ultrasound images of the liver in multiple positions. Fifteen measurements were taken from each set of images by each examiner. One examiner repeated the images and measurements. Results: Results demonstrated high intra‐rater reliability for all measurements (ICC's 0.67–0.97). Inter‐rater reliability also demonstrated high reliability (ICC's 0.71–0.94) for nine of the fifteen measurements (six representing the right lobe, one representing the left lobe and two representing the entire liver. Further analysis using paired samples t‐tests and Bland Altman plots were performed on these nine measurements. Conclusion: From this study, the most reliable measurements are suggested to be MCL Dome to tip and MCL Max AP for the right lobe and Midline Max AP for the left lobe. The only measurement to truly encompass both lobes (Max Trans) was not shown to be reliable.

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With growing recognition of the way occupational health and safety physically impacts, how sonographers perform daily tasks, little research pertaining to the emotional challenges and subsequent burnout faced by sonographers on a daily basis has been undertaken. This narrative literature review aims to investigate the incidence and potential causes of burnout amongst sonographers in order to further explore sonographer well-being. A literature search of medical databases and Google scholar was undertaken to identify articles related to the incidence and causes of sonographer burnout. This review revealed that the prevalence of sonographer burnout is high in Australasia and varied across different populations. Many potential causes of burnout have been postulated within the literature including increased scan numbers or work hours per week, working in hospital settings and chronic exposure to emotionally stressful situations. This review revealed that there is a paucity of published research discussing the incidence and causes of sonographer burnout to date. Further research is needed to investigate this very relevant topic.

Endometriosis is a common gynecologic condition affecting as many as 1 per 10 women. Transvaginal ultrasound (TVUS) has become a frontline tool in the diagnosis of deep infiltrating endometriosis (DIE) before surgery. The primary aim of this review was to determine the accuracy of TVUS for DIE. The secondary aim was to determine accuracy specifically when a sonographer performed the TVUS examination. A systematic review was performed, searching literature by following a population, intervention, comparator, and outcome outline. MEDLINE, Embase, Emcare, and Google Scholar were searched in July 2018 and in November 2019. Including “sonographer” in the search terms yielded no results, so our terms were expanded. Two hundred and four articles were returned from the searches, and 35 were ultimately included in the final review. Analysis of the returned articles revealed the TVUS is a valuable diagnostic tool for DIE before surgery. Sensitivities ranged from 78.5% to 85.3%, specificities from 46.1% to 92.5%, and accuracies from 75.7% to 97%. Most authors reported site‐specific sensitivities and specificities, which varied greatly between locations. Site‐specific sensitivities ranged from 10% to 88.9% (uterosacral ligaments), 20% to 100% (bladder), 33.3% to 98.1% (rectosigmoid colon), and 31% to 98.7% (pouch of Douglas). Site‐specific specificities ranged from 75% to 99.6% (uterosacral ligaments), 96.4% to 100% (bladder), 86% to 100% (rectosigmoid colon), and 90% to 100% (pouch of Douglas). Transvaginal ultrasound is an accurate tool in the diagnosis of DIE; however, limited data exist as to whether this technique is accurate when performed by sonographers. More evidence surrounding the reliability between operators is also needed.