实时超声造影技术对VX2兔肝癌影像学模型的诊断价值

目的:评价实时超声造影技术对VX2兔肝癌影像学模型的诊断价值.方法:25只肝脏种植VX2移植瘤的新西兰大白兔于种植后第21天行彩色多普勒超声检查,并经耳缘静脉团注造影剂SonoVue,行实时超声造影检查,观察肿瘤及其周边正常肝组织动态超声增强表现.结果:20只(80%)大白兔种植成功.在二维超声上,肿瘤为类圆形等回声肿块,周边可见声晕,部分中心可见低回声坏死区.彩色多普勒血流显像(CDFI)能探测到肿瘤周边或内部点、条状血流信号.注入造影剂后,动脉相见肿瘤周边血管呈环状、树枝状渐进性回声增强,而后门脉相随周边肝实质的强化而回声逐渐减弱,对比正常肝实质呈低回声,表现出典型的快进快出的强化特点.超声造影对于d≤3cm的小肝癌病灶检出率为90.6%,特异性96.2%,阳性预测值96.7%,阴性预测值86.7%,其中对于d<1cm的微小肝癌检出率为85.7%.结论:实时超声造影技术可提供肿瘤的动态血流信息,有助于微小病灶的诊断与鉴别诊断.     

肝脏血管平滑肌脂肪瘤超声声像图特征分析

目的 探讨肝脏血管平滑肌脂肪瘤(HAML)的超声声像图特点.方法 回顾分析经手术组织病理学证实的9例HAML患者灰阶超声、多普勒超声及超声造影表现,并与病理结果进行对照研究.结果 9例HAML均为单发,男/女比=1/2;肿瘤最大直径28mm～ 115mm,平均74.9±30.5mm;表现为圆形或椭圆形,边界清晰.7个肿块主要为高回声,2个主要为低回声.超声报告仅1例诊断完全正确,4例仅作实性占位提示,2例误诊为肝癌,1例误诊为右肾上腺肿瘤,1例误诊为肝血管瘤;对7例肿块进行了多普勒彩超检查,显示肿块内部呈不同程度的血流信号,其中血流丰富2例.1例进行了超声造影检查,表现为动脉早期快速增强,门脉期与延迟期与肝实质呈等回声.结论 HAML的超声表现具有多样性,以高回声表现为主,多数CDFI及超声造影表现为富血供表现.     

肝巨大血管瘤实时超声造影表现的临床意义

目的探讨肝巨大血管瘤实时超声造影的影像特征及具体表现。方法回顾性分析我院2013年1月至2015年12月进行实时超声造影的60例肝巨大血管瘤患者,观察不同时相的减退特点及动态变化与肿瘤回声的联系。结果60例肝巨大血管瘤患者的超声造影都有不同程度增强,有40个动脉期周边结节状增强,20个动脉期周边环状增强;所有病灶门脉期向内逐渐增强。25个病灶延迟期整体填充,所占比例为41.70%;35个不完全填充占总数的58.33%,肝巨大血管瘤不完全填充的比例与肿瘤回声无关,高回声完全填充的比例显著低于低回声,差异有统计学意义(P0.05)。结论实时超声造影可清楚地显示肝巨大血管瘤动态增强的特点,有利于提高超声诊断的鉴别。     

超声造影检查对肝脓肿的诊断价值

目的探讨超声造影检查对肝脓肿诊断的应用价值。方法回顾性分析2012年1月至2016年12月我院就诊的100例肝脓肿患者的临床资料和影像学资料,通过常规超声和超声造影对其进行诊断,分析两种诊断方法对于肝脓肿和肝脏恶性肿瘤声像图表现和临床应用价值。结果肝脓肿常规超声声像图表现为:腔内散在见大量密集中点状回声,且呈不均匀,内部回声较低或无回声,脓肿壁较厚,内壁粗糙呈"虫蚀状"结构。超声造影声像图表现为:动脉期快速环状,即脓腔壁明显强化呈环形,整体弥漫性非均匀性增强,增强后呈蜂窝状结构,且肝脏实质伴不规则的高回声,环边界清楚,病灶中心呈无回声液化、坏死。100例病人常规二维超声术前诊断为肝脓肿者89例,诊断准确率89.00%,其中脓肿炎性期、脓肿形成初期、脓肿形成期的诊断准确率分别为72.22%、88.57%、95.74%。超声造影术前诊断为肝脓肿者97例,诊断准确率97.00%,其中脓肿炎性期、脓肿形成初期、脓肿形成期的诊断准确率分别为88.89%、97.14%、100.00%。结论超声造影具有安全性、简单方便、实惠等优点,能够直观、动态的观察肝脏化脓性病变的血流灌注和结构特征,对于常规超声无法鉴别的肝脓肿有一定的应用价值。必要时结合临床表现和超声造影检查结果进一步综合评估,可对肝脓肿良恶性作出明确诊断,能够有效减少漏诊和误诊率的发生,可为临床肝脓肿患者的诊治方案提供可靠依据。     

超声造影诊断肝良性局灶性病变的价值研究

目的探讨超声造影下肝良性局灶性病变的影像特征及其应用价值。方法选取66例2013年2月至2015年1月我院收治肝脏良性局灶性病变患者,分析病灶超声造影特征,采用卡方检验对常规超声与超声造影诊断符合率进行统计分析。结果 66例肝良性局灶性病变患者中,肝包虫、肝脓肿、复杂肝囊肿、肝细胞腺瘤、肝脏炎性假瘤、肝脏血管平滑肌脂肪瘤、肝内脂肪沉积不均、肝脏局灶性结节性增生、肝内胆管囊腺瘤以及肝脏孤立性坏死性结节分别占2、14、7、4、11、2、16、8、1、1例;其中肝包虫(2例)、复杂囊肿(7例)和孤立性坏死性结节(1例)患者无增强,肝脏局灶性结节性增生(8例)和肝脏血管平滑肌脂肪瘤(2例)患者分别呈动脉相急速增强、门脉相和延迟相持续增强;肝内脂肪沉积不均(16例)患者表现为等增强;肝细胞腺瘤(4例)动脉相均表现为高增强,其中门脉相低增强占1例,门脉相和延迟相等增强或高增强占3例;肝脏炎性假瘤(11例)中无增强占7例,动脉相分割状增强后迅速退出占2例,动脉相病灶边缘轻度强化、呈低回声延迟相占2例;肝胆内胆管囊腺瘤(1例)实性部分动脉呈高增强,在门脉相和延迟相低增强,三相中央均无增强区;肝脓肿(14例)中呈动脉相不同程度的网格样增强,门脉相等增强或低增强。使用超声造影对肝脏良性局灶性病变进行诊断,诊断符合率(93.94%)明显优于使用常规超声对肝脏良性局灶性病变进行诊断的诊断符合率(62.12%),差异具有统计学意义(P0.001)。结论对肝脏良性局灶性病变患者使用超声造影进行诊断比常规超声诊断更准确,值得临床推广。     

肝脏上皮样血管平滑肌脂肪瘤实时超声造影征象研究

目的 分析总结肝脏上皮样血管平滑肌脂肪瘤(EAML)的灰阶超声、多普勒超声(CDFI)和超声造影(CEUS)表现。方法 回顾性分析我院经手术后组织病理学检查证实的20个EAML患者的临床、灰阶超声、CDFI和CEUS资料。结果 20例病灶均为单发,最大径为(49.23±10.3)mm;病灶内部回声为低回声14例(70.0%),高回声3例(15.0%),高低混合不均匀回声3例(15.0%);CDFI显示0级4例(20.0%),I级3例(15.0%),II级10例(50.0%),III级3例(15.0%);阻力指数(RI)为0.46±0.34;CEUS显示所有病灶动脉期都表现为快速高增强,其中13例(86.6%)为整体均匀增强,门静脉期高增强12例(80.0%),等增强2例(13.3%),低增强1例(6.6%),延迟期仍表现为高增强10例(66.6%),等增强4例(26.6%),低增强1例(6.6%)。结论 EAML灰阶超声主要表现为低回声,CDFI显示为富血供、低阻力型血流,CEUS主要表现为快进慢退/不退,三者结合或有助于提高诊断的准确性。     

彩色多普勒血流显像及超声造影在肝局灶性结节增生中的诊断价值

目的探究彩色多普勒血流显像及超声造影在肝局灶性结节增生中的诊断价值。方法选取确诊为肝局灶性结节增生患者32例进行回顾性分析,观察增生结节的彩色多普勒血流显像及超声造影特征。结果超声造影显示,病灶于12~16 s内开始增强,32例患者动脉相均为快速增强,且为均匀高增强。其中24例为中央型,8例为整体型(5例偏心性增强及3例团状增强),病灶呈整体快速增强。门脉相大多数病例均为高回声,少数为等回声及低回声,其中1例可见中央瘢痕低回声;延迟相18例FNH增强呈高回声,10例呈等回声,4例呈低回声。彩色多普勒血流显像检查结果,32例患者共发现阳性病灶37个,其中28例为单发病灶,4例为多发病灶;增生结节多数位于肝右叶(位于左叶9例、位于右叶22例),分布较为均匀;肝内结节最大直径5 cm,最小直径2.5 cm,平均直径3.4 cm;肝内低回声结节4例,偏低回声结节3例,高回声结节8例,偏高回声结节14例,等回声结节2例;结节呈类圆形的26例,不规则形结节6例;19例结节的边界清晰、10例边界欠清晰、3例可见周围声晕。彩色多普勒超声检查全部病灶均可显示动脉血流信号,其中22例可显示典型的"轮辐"状分布的血流特征,全部血流均为低阻动脉血流频谱。结论超声造影和彩色多普勒血管造影能动态显示肝局灶性结节增生病灶的血流灌注情况,尤其是动脉相的"轮辐"状快速离心性增强特征,以及延迟相中央瘢痕低增强特征是FNH诊断及鉴别诊断的重要依据。     

肝转移癌超声造影增强模式表现分析

目的 研究肝转移癌患者肝内病灶超声造影(CEUS)增强模式。方法 2016年1月～2019年1月我院诊治的肝转移癌患者76例,经手术或病灶活检病理学检查诊断,行CEUS和CT增强扫描检查,根据病灶在CT扫描肝动脉期表现为低密度灶者称为乏血供病灶,表现为高密度或等密度灶者为富血供病灶。结果 本组肝转移癌的原发灶包括结肠癌50例(65.8%)、乳腺癌7例(9.2%)、肺癌5例(6.6%)、胃癌5例(6.6%)、胰腺癌4例(5.3%)、胰腺神经内分泌肿瘤3例(3.9%)、卵巢癌2例(2.6%);乏血供组肝转移癌来自结肠癌、肺癌、胃癌、胰腺癌和卵巢癌,富血供组肝转移癌来自胰腺神经内分泌肿瘤和乳腺癌;CEUS动脉期成像表现为高增强、局部高增强、同步等增强和不均匀低增强。乏血供组108个病灶动脉期呈高增强、局部高增强、同步等增强和不均匀低增强发生率分别为52.8%、35.2%、3.7%和8.3%,与富血供组24个病灶的87.5%、12.5%、0.0%和0.0%比,差异显著(P<0.05);乏血供组病灶门脉期呈低增强和等增强发生率为分别为99.1%和0.9%,延迟期呈低增强和等增强发生率分别为99.1%和0.9%,与富血供组比,差异显著(分别为70.8%、29.2%、79.2%和20.8%,P<0.05);乏血供组病灶增强时间和病灶达峰时间分别为(17.6±3.8)s和(23.0±4.8)s,显著长于富血供组【分别为(15.2±2.9)s和(19.8±5.9)s,P<0.05],而病灶增强廓清时间为(41.1±23.4)s,显著短于富血供组。结论 肝转移癌以乏血供病灶为主,常见的CEUS动脉期增强模式为短暂均匀强化后快速廓清,找到原发病灶有助于对肝内病灶的定性。     

低功率超声空化治疗肝癌前后超声血管造影检查结果变化及意义

目的 观察低功率超声空化治疗肝癌前后超声血管造影检查结果的变化,并探讨其意义.方法 采用低功率超声空化治疗肝癌42例.其中12例晚期肝脏肿瘤患者手术前后均接受超声血管造影和增强CT检查,用增强CT检查结果评定其疗效,分析治疗前后超声血管造影图像变化.结果 本组无CR患者,PR 5例,SD 5例,PD 2例.11例患者（PR 5例、SD 4例、PD 2例）治疗后病灶内出现低回声区,病灶增强程度及增强范围变小;1例原发性肝癌（SD者）治疗后超声造影发现肿瘤内出现低回声区.治疗前典型超声血管造影结果为造影剂注入后,肿块由周边向中央弥漫性明显增强,表现为内部弥漫性增强,呈“漫天星”状,血供丰富;治疗后表现为肿块呈弥漫性增强,但肿瘤血管造影强度低于治疗前,造影剂充盈缺损区范围扩大,内可见裂隙样暗区,近腹壁侧可见片状充盈缺损区.结论 超声血管造影是评价肝癌疗效的重要辅助方法.     

肝血管瘤、肝细胞癌和肝血管平滑肌脂肪瘤超声造影特点观察*

目的 探讨肝血管瘤(HCH)、肝细胞癌(HCC)和肝血管平滑肌脂肪瘤(HAML)患者肝内病灶超声造影特点。方法 2017年11月～2020年11月我院诊治的肝占位病变患者112例,所有患者入院后均在治疗前接受常规超声和超声造影检查,观察肝内病灶数目、大小、边界、回声、形态、血供等信息,同时观察超声造影检查过程中动脉期、门静脉期和延迟期病灶的增强模式。结果 经组织病理学检查诊断为HCH患者39例,HCC患者64例和HMAL患者9例;HCH患者女性占比为66.7%,显著高于HCC或HAML患者(分别为18.8%和33.3%,P＜0.05),HCC患者年龄为(57.5±5.8)岁,HMAL患者年龄为(55.3±5.1)岁,均显著大于HCH患者【(46.2±5.2)岁,P<0.05】,HCC患者存在HBV感染发生率为76.6%,显著高于HMAL患者的28.6%或HCH患者的12.8%(P<0.05);在普通超声检查,HCC病灶边界不清、实质呈低回声和混合回声占比分别为65.6%、43.8%和42.2%,显著高于HCH病灶的2.6%、10.3%和7.7%或HAML病灶的0.0%、11.1%和11.1%(P＜0.05),HCH、HCC和HAML患者肝内病灶数目、病灶大小、形态和血供比较,差异无统计学意义(P＞0.05);在超声造影检查方面,HCH病灶在动脉期呈高增强占比为92.3%,显著高于HCC病灶的87.5%或HMAL病灶的88.9%(P＜0.05),HCC病灶门静脉期和延迟期呈低增强占比分别为65.6%和90.6%,显著高于HCH病灶的5.1%和43.6%或HMAL病灶的11.1%和22.2%(P＜0.05)。结论 HAML、HCH和HCC病灶在超声检查方面各具特点,而超声造影检查更具诊断和鉴别诊断价值,值得进一步研究。     

Prospective study of differential diagnosis of hepatic tumors by pattern-based classification of contrast-enhanced sonography

INTRODUCTION Contrast-enhanced harmonic gray-scale sonography is a useful tool for evaluating the vascularity of liver tumors[1-11], because it allows visualization of the blood perfusion of liver tumors without motion artifacts[12] and it is simple, easy, and sufficiently non-invasive to be performed on an out-patient basis. In addition, it can be used in renal failure patients and patients who are allergic to iodine contrast agents. Several investigators have reported that contrast- enha…     

Contrast-enhanced endoscopic ultrasound in discrimination between focal pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer

AIM: To evaluate the contrast-enhanced endosonography as a method of differentiating inflammation from pancreatic carcinoma based on perfusion characteristics of microvessels. METHODS: In 86 patients with suspected chronic pancreatitis (age: 62±12 years; sex: f/m 38/48), pancreatic lesions were examined by conventional endo-scopic B-mode, power Doppler ultrasound and contrast-enhanced power mode (Hitachi EUB 525, SonoVue, 2.4 mL, Bracco) using the following criteria for malignant lesions: no detectable vascularisation using conventional power Doppler scanning, irregular appearance of arterial vessels over a short distance using SonoVue contrast-enhanced technique and no detectable venous vessels inside the lesion. A malignant lesion was assumed if all criteria were detectable [gold standard endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided fine needle aspiration cytology, operation]. The criteria of chronic pancreatitis without neoplasia were defined as no detectable vascularisation before injection of SonoVue, regular appearance of vessels over a distance of at least 20 mm after injection of SonoVue and detection of arterial and venous vessels. RESULTS: The sensitivity and specificity of conventional EUS were 73.2% and 83.3% respectively for pancreatic cancer. The sensitivity of contrast-enhanced EUS increased to 91.1% in 51 of 56 patients with malignant pancreatic lesion and the specificity increased to 93.3% in 28 of 30 patients with chronic inflammatory pancreatic disease. CONCLUSION: Contrast-enhanced endoscopic ultrasound improves the differentiation between chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic carcinoma.     

超声造影检查在肝占位性病变诊断中的应用价值

背景:随着超声造影剂及其成像技术的迅速发展,超声造影技术的临床应用日趋成熟,为肝占位性病变的诊断提供了新手段.目的:分析各种不同的肝占位病变在超声造影检查中的表现,探讨其对该类疾病的诊断价值.方法:使用SonoVue造影剂对22例不同类型的肝占位性病变进行超声造影检查,同时以视频影像同步记录造影剂进入肝内血管、肝实质和肝占位性病变的时间和形态的变化.结果:不同类型的肝占位性病变在超声造影检查中显示出不同的动脉相、门静脉相和延迟相的变化.原发性肝癌以造影剂"快进快出"为主要表现;转移性肝癌以延迟相造影剂充盈缺损为主要表现;肝血管瘤以延迟相有显著的造影剂摄取为主要表现;肝脓肿以快速增强持续整个门静脉相和延迟相为主要表现;肝硬化结节则以与肝实质无法区分的同步强化为主要表现.结论:超声造影检查对肝占位性病变的定性诊断明显优于普通超声检查,在显示肿瘤数目,尤其是发现微小病灶方面优于增强CT,提高了超声检查对肝占位性病变的诊断价值.     

Evaluation of quantitative contrast harmonic imaging to assess malignancy of liver tumors： A prospective controlled two-center study

AIM： To establish the extent to which contrast enhancement with SonoVue in combination with quantitative evaluation of contrast-medium dynamics facilitates the detection of hepatic tumors.
METHODS： One hundred patients with histologically confirmed malignant or benign hepatic tumor （maximum size 5 cm） were analyzed. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound （bolus injection 2.5 mL SonoVue） was carried out with intermittent breath-holding technique using a multifrequency transducer （2.5-4 MHz）. Native vascularization was analyzed with power Doppler. The contrast-enhanced dynamic ultrasound investigation was carried out with contrast harmonic imaging in true detection mode during the arterial, portal venous and late phases. Mechanical index was set at 0.15. Perfusion analysis was performed by post-processing of the raw data [time intensity curve （TIC） analysis]. The cutoff of the gray value differences between tumor and normal liver tissue was established using Receiver Operating Characteristic （ROC） analysis 64-line multislice computed tomography served as reference method in all cases. Magnetic resonance tomography was used additionally in 19 cases.
RESULTS： One hundred patients with 59 malignant （43 colon, 5 breast, 2 endocrine metastases, 7 hepatocellular carcinomas and 2 kidney cancers） and 41 benign （15 hemangiomas, 7 focal nodular hyperplasias, 5 complicated cysts, 2 abscesses and 12 circumscribed fatty changes） tumors were included. The late venous phase proved to be the most sensitive for classification of the tumor type. Fifty-eight of the 59 malignant tumors were classified as true positive, and one as false negative. This resulted in a sensitivity of 98.3%. Of the 41 benign tumors, 37 were classified as true negative and 4 as false negative, which corresponds to a specificity of 90.2%. Altogether, 95.0% of the diagnoses were classified as correct on the basis of the histological classification. No investigator-dependency （P = 0.23）was noted.
CONCLUSION： The results show the     

Dynamic contrast-enhanced power Doppler sonography improves the differential diagnosis of liver lesions

The aim of this paper was to investigate the diagnostic value of dynamic contrast-enhanced power Doppler sonography in the differential diagnosis of liver lesions. We prospectively examined 85 focal liver lesions in 71 patients by real-time gray-scale sonography, power Doppler sonography, and contrast-enhanced power Doppler using two ultrasound contrast agents (Levovist, Optison). Amount and architecture of lesion vascularity and the kinetics of contrast enhancement within the lesions were analyzed. Vascularity was detected in 61% of liver lesions (52/85) by conventional power Doppler, compared to 86% (73/85) by contrast-enhanced power Doppler sonography. Dynamic contrast-enhanced power Doppler identified arterial radial hypervascularity <16 s after contrast injection in 19/22 focal nodular hyperplasias (86%). Irregular hypervascularity was seen with contrast enhancement in the arterial phase in 14/15 hepatocellular carcinomas (93%). In 14/25 hemangiomas (56%), a circular vascularization pattern was noted. Specific lesion diagnosis based on B-scan and conventional and dynamic contrast-enhanced power Doppler sonography led to correct diagnosis in 86% (73/85, 95% confidence interval 78%-94%) compared to 57% (48/85, 95% confidence interval 47%-94%) by B-scan criteria and conventional power Doppler sonography. Contrast-enhanced power Doppler sonography improves diagnostic accuracy in the differential diagnosis of focal liver lesions.     

Assessment of hepatic VX(2) tumors with combined percutaneous transhepatic lymphosonography and contrast-enhanced ultrasonographic imaging

AIM： To evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of percutaneous transhepatic lymphosonography （PTL） as a novel method for the detection of tumor lymphangiogenesis in hepatic VX2 of rabbits and to evaluate combined PTL and routine contrast-enhanced ultrasonographic imaging for the diagnosis of liver cancer. METHODS： Ten rabbits with VX2 tumor were included in this study. SonoVue （0.1 mL/kg） was injected into each rabbit via an ear vein for contrast-enhanced ultrasonographic imaging, and 0.5 mL SonoVue was injected into the normal liver parenchyma near the VX2 tumor for PTL. Images and/or movie clips were stored for further analysis. RESULTS： UItrasonographic imaging showed VX2 tumors ranging 5-19 mm in the liver of rabbits. The VX2 tumor was hyperechoic and hypoechoic to liver parenchyma at the early and later phase, respectively. The hepatic lymph vessels were visualized immediately after injection of contrast medium and continuously vi- sualized with SonoVue during PTL. The boundaries of VX2 tumors were hyperechoic to liver parenchyma and the tumors. There was a significant difference in the values for the boundaries of VX2 tumors after injection compared with the liver normal parenchyma and the tumor parenchyma during PTL.CONCLUSION： PTL is a novel method for the detection of tumor lymphangiogenesis in hepatic VX2 of rabbits. Combined PTL and contrast-enhanced ultrasonographic imaging can improve the diagnosis of liver cancer.     

Assessment of metastatic liver disease in patients with primary extrahepatic tumors by contrast-enhanced sonography versus CT and MRI

AIM: To evaluate contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) using SonoVue(?) in the detection of liver metas-tases in patients with known extrahepatic primary tumors versus the combined gold standard comprising CT, MRI and clinical/histological data. METHODS: It is an international multicenter study, and there were 12 centres and 125 patients (64 males, 61 females, aged 59±11 years) involved, with 102 patients per protocol. Primary tumors were colorectal in 35%, breast in 27%, pancreatic in 17% and others in 21%. CEUS using SonoVue(?) was employed with a low-mechanical-index technique and contrast-specific software using Siemens Elegra, Philips HDI 5000 and Acuson Sequoia; continuous scanning for at least five minutes. RESULTS: CEUS with SonoVue(?) increased significantly the number of focal liver lesions detected versus unen-hanced sonography. In 31.4% of the patients, more lesions were found after contrast enhancement. The total numbers of lesions detected were comparable with CEUS (55), triple-phase spiral CT (61) and MRI with a liver-specific contrast agent (53). Accuracy of detection of metastatic disease (i.e. at least one metastatic lesion) was significantly higher for CEUS (91.2%) than for un-enhanced sonography (81.4%) and was similar to that of triple-phase spiral CT (89.2%). In 53 patients whose CEUS examination was negative, a follow-up examination 3-6 months later confirmed the absence of metastatic lesions in 50 patients (94.4%). CONCLUSION: CEUS is proved to be reliable in the detection of liver metastases in patients with known extra-hepatic primary tumors and suspected liver lesions.     

Characterization of focal liver lesions with SonoVue(R)-enhanced sonography: International multicenter-study in comparison to CT and MRI

AIM: To evaluate in a multicenter study whether the sonographic characterization of focal liver lesions can be improved using SonoVue(R)-enhancement; and to compare this method with computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). METHODS: One hundred and thirty four patients with one focal liver lesion detected in baseline ultrasound (US) were examined with conventional US, contrastenhanced US ( n = 134), contrast-enhanced CT ( n = 115) and/or dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI ( n = 70). The lesions were classified as malignant, benign or indeterminate and the type of lesion was determined.The final diagnosis based on the combined information of all imaging examinations, clinical information and histology ( n = 32) was used. Comparisons were made to see whether the addition of contrast-enhanced US led to the improvement of the characterization of doubtful focal liver lesions. RESULTS: In comparison with unenhanced US, SonoVue(r) markedly improves sensitivity and specificity for the characterization (malignant/benign) of focal liver lesions. In comparison with CT and/or dynamic MRI, SonoVue(r) -enhanced sonography applied for characterization of focal liver lesions was 30.2% more sensitive in the recognition of malignancy and 16.1% more specific in the exclusion of malignancy and overall 22.9% more accurate. In the subgroup with confirmative histology available ( n = 30), sensitivity was 95.5% (CEUS), 72.2% (CT) and 81.8% (MRI), and specificity was 75.0% (CEUS), 37.5% (CT) and 42.9% (MRI). The sensitivity and specificity of CEUS for the identification of focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) and hemangiomas was 100% and 87%, resulting in an accuracy of 94.5%. CONCLUSION: SonoVue(r)-enhanced sonography emerges as the most sensitive, most specific and thus most accurate imaging modality for the characterization of focal liver lesions.     

Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography to detect liver metastases

Background/aims The advent of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) has called into question the efficacy of standard ultrasonographic techniques. In this study, we evaluated B-mode and color-duplex imaging and CEUS in the detection of liver metastases, using intraoperative and histological findings as a reference. Materials and methods Before laparotomy, 108 patients suspected of having liver metastases were prospectively examined with B-mode and color-duplex imaging, followed by contrast-enhanced ultrasound (2.4 ml SonoVue). Patients with unresectable tumors (n=8) were excluded from the analysis. The sonographic diagnosis in the remaining 100 patients was compared to the intraoperative and histological findings. Results/findings CEUS improved the sensitivity for detecting liver lesions from 56.3% (B-mode) to 83.8% (CEUS) (p=0.004). In particular, the contrast agent led to an improvement in ultrasonographic detection in the following cases: nodular metastases smaller than one centimeter; after adjuvant chemotherapy; for tumors near the surface of the liver; and for lesions situated around the ligamentum teres. Interpretation/conclusions CEUS provides significant improvement in the detection of liver metastases, and should therefore, be performed routinely in the surveillance of cancer patients. Dr. Konopke and Dr. Kersting contributed equally to this work.