Local ablation procedures in primary liver tumors: Levovist US versus spiral CTto evaluate therapeutic results.
BACKGROUND
The objective of this study was to compare Levovist power Doppler ultrasound (Levovist US) with contrast-enhanced spiral computed tomography (spiral CT), in the evaluation of the efficacy of percutaneous local ablation procedures, in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).


METHODS
Forty-six patients with 62 HCC were studied using Levovist US and triphasic spiral CT, after treatment by radiofrequency ablation (RFA) (32), percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI) (24), transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) (4), laser-therapy (LT) (1) and RFA plus TACE (1).


RESULTS
Spiral CT scan showed contrast enhancement in 47% of the cases; at basal power Doppler ultrasound only 10% of the nodules showed to be vascular but, after Levovist infusion, 72.5% showed intralesional vascular spots.


CONCLUSIONS
We detected that residual tumor vascularity in HCC, after treatment using percutaneous local ablation procedures, was significantly increased by Levovist. Levovist US could be proposed as a good alternative in patients unfit for CT scanning due to allergies to iodate contrast media, renal failure or cardiovascular disease and, moreover, could help to select those patients requiring a new treatment, without performing spiral CT, thereby reducing the cost of treatment and improving patient tolerance.
National Cancer Institute, Via M. Semmola, 80131, Naples, Italy. vallone.paolo@libero.it
Paolo
P
Vallone
Adolfo
A
Gallipoli
Francesco
F
Izzo
Francesco
F
Fiore
Paolo
P
Delrio
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery*; D017115:Catheter Ablation / Q000379:methods; D016461:Chemoembolization, Therapeutic / Q000379:methods; D003287:Contrast Media; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053685:Laser Therapy; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011134:Polysaccharides; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014463:Ultrasonography
D003287:Contrast Media; D011134:Polysaccharides; C059891:SHU 508; D000431:Ethanol