Diagnostic Ultrasound & Menopausal Hormone Treatment

Dr Deirdré Grobbelaar

Learn how diagnostic pelvic ultrasound helps specialists evaluate
reproductive health, track structural uterine changes and tailor
menopausal hormone treatment for optimal safety.

Emergency Cases

Dr. Grobbelaar is on call for emergency medical cases. Dr. Grobbelaar is on call for all emergency medical cases.

082 55 16 222 / 200 Call 082 55 16 222

Practice Location

Find us at Suite 5, Hermanus Mediclinic, Ravenscroft Street, Hermanus.

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Consulting Hours

Mon – Fri	8:00 AM – 4:30 PM
Weekends & Holidays	Closed

1987

Medical Degree

MBChB (UP)

Medical degree completed at the University of Pretoria.

1988–91

Specialist Training

Ultrasound Training

Completed ultrasound training at Steve Biko Pretoria Academic Hospital.

1991

Practice Established

Eugene Marais Hospital

Began her practice in Pretoria at Eugene Marais Hospital.

1995

Hermanus

Hermanus Mediclinic

Moved to Hermanus Mediclinic, where she has practiced solely in ultrasound ever since.

Ultrasound Technology.

Ultrasound is safe and painless and produces images of the inside of the body using sound waves. The imaging, also called ultrasound scanning or sonography, involves the use of a transducer (probe) & specialised sound conducting gel placed directly on the skin.

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The following situations can benefit from an ultrasound examination:

Abdominal pain, abdominal masses
TIA or “blackouts”, loss of consciousness
Dizziness
Blood in the urine
Swollen or painful calves for blood clots (called DVT)
Pain in legs when doing exercise, walking or after a flight or long trip or period of immobility, like hospitalisation
Swallowing problems (neck masses)
Abnormal vaginal bleeding
Pregnancy diagnosis, bleeding, fetal growth, sex determination and other problems antenatally
Shoulder pain, knee swelling or pain
Elbow or ankle pain
Breast nodules, follow up of cysts or fibroadenoma
Routine breast examinations
Lymphglands
Hernias

We use inaudible sound (frequencies between 2-18MHz) to examine and scan organs, joints and blood vessels.
A transducer or probe is used to scan an organ, limb or joint.
We use higher frequencies for more superficial organs and lower for deeper organs.
A sound wave of known frequency is sent into an organ, the tissue (depending on density) changes the wavelength and sends( reflects) it back to the probe.
The ultrasound machine then uses the altered wave length to produce a “live” image on the machine screen.
The denser the tissue, the “whiter” the image and the less dense tissues produce scales of grey image. Clear fluid produces a black image which helps with the delineation of anatomy and pathology.

Directional Doppler is used to measure velocity and direction of flow, useful in heart and blood vessel examinations.

Types of Doppler:

1: Directional: PW / CW/ AngioDoppler
2: Colour: Colour Doppler is superimposed on the 2D picture to indicate direction of flow turbulence, laminar flow , incompetence, short circuits etc.
3: Angio Doppler: Non directional, but pick up very low and slow flow and perfusion.

Doppler is essential to measure flow in the heart and to pick up valves that leak or does not open properly due to pathology. We also pick up openings in the septums of the hearts of babies or children that are born with short circuits like (ASD, VSD, open foramen ovale, PDA etc.) CW Doppler is used for higher flow velocities in one plane.

To evaluate blood vessels doppler is also essential. The important relevant vessels we examine are the following:

1: Leg veins (for deep vein thrombosis) after long flights or periods of immobility;
2: Leg arteries: when arteries narrow that supplies the muscles and feet of blood – these patients develop pain when they walk or climb stairs,with then would disappear in rest.
3: Abdominal Aorta: Some patients develop a widening or weakening of their main abdominal artery wall, called an aneurysm.

Abdominal Aorta Aneurism:

When the main blood vessel wall weakens for any reason, mainly due to atherosclerosis the vessel starts dilating.
When it dilates above 3 cm in diameter in patients, we follow it up yearly to monitor the growth.
We refer our patients to vascular surgeons when it dilates more than 4,5 cm to be considered for a stent.

Carotid duplex studies:

When patents get a “blackout”, dizzy spells, strokes or lose consciousness temporarily, we study the arteries (called the carotid arteries), we look at the 2D image for calcifications, plaque, norrowing or thickening of the lining of the vessels to assess if the flow is disturbed and becomes turbulent , which then will cause embolism of inner artery wall deposits, leading to strokes.
We can also look at the intima, inner lining of the common carotid and measure the IMT, intimate media thickness that can predict a patient’s risk for cardio vascular disease. It’s means we measure the inner layer of the CCA (main neck artery).
There are tables of normal values available to predict if a patient is at high risk for Cardiovascular disease.

Now Offering MHT

Dr Grobbelaar now offers Menopausal Hormone Therapy (MHT). She helps manage hormonal imbalances, including menopause symptoms, fatigue and mood changes. Contact us to book a consultation.