title: Small hepatocellular carcinoma treated with percutaneous ethanol injection: MR imaging findings.
abstract: Fifty-seven magnetic resonance (MR) imaging examinations were obtained at 0.5 T in 19 patients before and after percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI) for 23 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) lesions less than 3.5 cm in diameter. Seventeen patients also underwent MR imaging 6 months after completion of therapy. In 11 patients, computed tomography was performed before and after treatment. After PEI, fine-needle biopsy specimens were obtained in all cases. Before treatment, HCC lesions had low signal intensity on T1-weighted images in 13 cases, had the same signal intensity as normal liver parenchyma in six, and had high signal intensity in four; all 23 tumors had high signal intensity on T2-weighted images. After treatment and at 6-month follow-up, all 21 lesions that contained no malignant cells at fine-needle biopsy had high signal intensity on T1-weighted images and had low signal intensity on T2-weighted images. The remaining two HCC lesions in which tumor necrosis was not achieved with PEI displayed a different MR pattern, since the residual neoplastic tissue showed no change in signal intensity on either T1- or T2-weighted images. The authors conclude that MR imaging may be useful for evaluating the effectiveness of PEI in achieving tumor regression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Scientific Institute San Raffaele, University Hospital, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sironi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Livraghi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: DelMaschio
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015552:Injections, Intralesional / Q000379:methods; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012074:Remission Induction; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014463:Ultrasonography; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins; D000431:Ethanol