Sonazoid-enhanced ultrasonography for diagnosis of hepatic malignancies: comparison with contrast-enhanced CT.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to assess the usefulness of Sonazoid-enhanced ultrasonography (US) in the diagnosis of hepatic malignancies in comparison with contrast-enhanced CT findings.


METHODS
A total of 74 patients with 113 hepatic tumors having or highly suspected of having malignancies were enrolled. These hepatic nodules were diagnosed by typical findings of imaging such as contrast-enhanced CT, dynamic MRI or Sonazoid-enhanced US, tumor markers and histological examinations after surgical resection or biopsy.


RESULTS
108 nodules were diagnosed as malignant tumors (hepatocellular carcinoma: n = 90; metastasis: n = 16; intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: n = 2) and the remaining five tumors were diagnosed as benign tumors (dysplastic nodules: n = 5). Sonazoid-enhanced US correctly depicted the presence or absence of tumors in 74 patients, with a sensitivity of 95.4%, an accuracy of 94.7%, and a positive predictive rate of 99%. Contrast-enhanced CT depicted the malignancies with a sensitivity of 85.2%, an accuracy of 82.3%, and a positive predictive rate of 95.8%. There were significant differences between Sonazoid-enhanced US and contrast-enhanced CT for sensitivity and accuracy (both p < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Sonazoid-enhanced US has a higher sensitivity and accuracy for the diagnosis of hepatic malignancies than contrast-enhanced CT.
Hatanaka
Kinuyo
K
Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kinki University School of Medicine, Osaka-Sayama, Japan.
Kudo
Masatoshi
M
Minami
Yasunori
Y
Maekawa
Kiyoshi
K
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001650:Bile Duct Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis; D001653:Bile Ducts, Intrahepatic; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000175:diagnosis; D018281:Cholangiocarcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis; D003287:Contrast Media; D005260:Female; D005290:Ferric Compounds; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010087:Oxides; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000379:methods*
D003287:Contrast Media; D005290:Ferric Compounds; D010087:Oxides; C069727:Sonazoid; D007501:Iron