Abstract:
Objective To explore the diagnostic value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and contrast-enhanced CT (CECT) for HCA.
Methods Clinical data of 21 hepatocellular adenoma (HCA) lesions in 21 patients confirmed by pathology were collected. The CEUS and CECT imaging findings of HCA lesions were analyzed respectively.
Results 100% (21/21) of HCA showed hyper-enhancement in arterial phase on CEUS and CECT. In portal venous phase, 14.3% (3/21) and 19.1% (4/21) of lesions showed hypo-enhancement, respectively. During late phase, 33.3% (7/21) and 42.9% (9/21) of HCA showed washout, respectively. There was no statistical difference in enhancement performance of HCA between CEUS and CECT. The detection rate of subcapsular enhancement on CEUS was higher than that of CECT (McNemar, P=0.028). Comparison of CEUS or CECT with gross specimens showed that there were statistical difference in intralesional hemorrhage area (CEUS vs gross pathology, P=0.045; CECT vs gross pathology, P=0.023). The consistency of the two methods and pathological examination results was low (CEUS vs gross, Kappa=0.327; CECT vs gross, Kappa=0.440). Based on "fast washin slow washout" and "subcapsular vascular enhancement", the accuracy rate of CEUS was 47.6%, the accuracy of CECT was 33.3%, and the accuracy of combined methods was 52.4%. There was no statistical difference between the combined methods and CEUS alone. In total, 12 inflammatory HCA (I-HCA) lesions were included in the study based on the results of immuno-histochemical staining. 75.0% (8/12) of I-HCA showed overall enhancement in arterial phase on CEUS, 41.7% (5/12) showed hypo-enhancement in late phase, and 41.7% (5/12) showed subcapsular enhancement, 16.7% (2/12) showed unenhanced area. On CECT, 33.3% (4/12) of I-HCA showed heterogeneous enhancement in the arterial phase, and 50.0% (6/12) showed washout in the late phase, subcapsular vascular enhancement was shown in 16.7% (2/12) of I-HCA, and 25.0% (3/12) showed unenhanced area. The detection rate of "hypoechoic on B-mode ultrasound, hyper-enhancement in arterial phase, and subcapsular vascular enhancement on CEUS" in I-HCA was about 41.7%, which could suggest I-HCA.
Conclusions The accurate HCA diagnostic rate of CEUS is higher than CECT, and CEUS has more advantages in the display of enhancement pattern in arterial phase and subcapsular vascular enhancement. CECT combined with CEUS can improve the preoperative diagnosis accuracy of HCA.