title: Diagnosing small hepatic cysts on multidetector CT: an additional merit of thinner coronal reformations.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We wanted to validate the additional merit of the thinner coronal reformation images from multidetector CT (MDCT) for making the diagnosis of hepatic cysts.
  
  
  METHODS
  For the 90 benign hepatic cysts confirmed on MRI, the transverse (5-mm thickness) and additional coronal (2-mm thickness) reformation images from MDCT were compared with each other in terms of the Hounsfield units (HUs) and the size of each hepatic cyst.
  
  
  RESULTS
  THE ATTENUATIONS (MEAN: 17.2 HUs, standard deviation: ± 14.4) on the thinner coronal images were significantly lower than those (mean: 40.7 HUs; standard deviation: ± 20.6) on the thicker transverse images for the small hepatic cysts (≤ 10 mm on the transverse image, p < 0.01). Twenty-three (79%) of the 29 cysts between 5 mm and 10 mm and 21 (51%) of 41 lesions up to 5 mm showed a mean HU value of 20 or less on the coronal reformation images.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  By reducing the partial volume effect, routine coronal reformation of MDCT with a thinner section thickness can provide another merit for making a confidential diagnosis of many small sub-centimeter hepatic cysts, and these small cysts are not easily characterized on the conventional transverse images.
authors: Department of Radiology and the Research Institute of Radiological Science, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Gangnam Severance Hospital, Seoul 135-720, Korea.
authors: Sung Ho
authors: SH
authors: Hwang
authors: Jeong-Sik
authors: JS
authors: Yu
authors: Jae-Joon
authors: JJ
authors: Chung
authors: Joo Hee
authors: JH
authors: Kim
authors: Ki Whang
authors: KW
authors: Kim
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