title: Hepatic hemangioma: contrast-enhancement pattern during the arterial and portal venous phases of spiral CT.
abstract: The objective of the present study was to evaluate contrast-enhancement patterns of hepatic hemangioma according to size during hepatic arterial (30-s delay) and portal venous (65-s delay) phases of spiral computed tomography (CT). During a 10-month-period, 73 patients with 118 hemangiomas underwent two-phase spiral CT examination. The enhancement patterns of tumors were divided into four types based on the attenuation of surrounding liver parenchyma: peripherally nodular high, uniform high, iso, and low. The diameter of the tumors were <10 mm (n = 39), 11-20 mm (n = 33), and >21 mm (n = 46). Overall, the most common enhancement patterns of hemangioma were peripherally nodular high (66/118, 55. 9%) during the arterial and portal venous phases. The second most common contrast-enhancement patterns of hemangioma were uniform high (15/118, 12.7%) during the arterial and portal venous phases. In tumors smaller than 20 mm, 11 (9.3%) had low-low attenuation and two (1.7%) had iso-low attenuation during the arterial and portal venous phases, respectively. In conclusion, at two-phase spiral CT, the most common contrast-enhancement patterns of hemangioma are peripherally nodular high and/or uniform high during the arterial and portal venous phases. However, hemangiomas smaller than 2 cm may have atypical enhancing patterns including low and iso-attenuation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, 28 Yongon-Dong, Chongno-Ku, Seoul 110-744, Korea.
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Yun
authors.forename: B I
authors.initials: BI
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: T K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Yeon
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Han
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003287:Contrast Media; D005260:Female; D006391:Hemangioma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media