title: Solitary Necrotic Nodules of the Liver: Histology and Diagnosis With CT and MRI.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A solitary necrotic nodule (SNN) of the liver is an uncommon lesion, which is different from primary and metastatic liver cancers.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To analyze the classification, CT and MR manifestation, and the pathological basis of solitary necrotic nodule of the liver (SNN) in order to evaluate CT and MRI as a diagnosing tool.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study included 29 patients with liver SNNs, out of which 14 had no clinical symptoms and were discovered by routine ultrasound examinations, six were found by computed tomography (CT) due to abdominal illness, four had ovarian tumors, and five had gastrointestinal cancer surgeries, previously. Histologically, these SNNs can be divided into three subtypes, i.e., type I, pure coagulation necrosis (14 cases); type II, coagulation necrosis mixed with liquefaction necrosis (five cases); and type III, multi-nodular fusion (10 cases). CT and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) patterns were shown to be associated with SNN histology. All patients were treated surgically with good prognosis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  CT AND MRI APPEARANCE AND CORRELATION WITH PATHOLOGY TYPES: three subtypes of lesions were hypo-density on both pre contrast and post contrast CT, 12 lesions were found the enhanced capsule and 1 lesion of multi- nodular fusion type showed septa enhancement. The lesions were hypo-intensity on T2WI and the lesions of type II showed as mixed hyperintensity on T2WI. The capsule showed delayed enhancement in all cases, and all lesions of multi- nodular fusion type showed delayed septa enhancement on MR images. 15 cases on CT were misdiagnosed and Four cases on MRI were misdiagnosed and the accuracy of CT and MRI were 48.3% and 86.2% respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In conclusion, CT and MRI are useful tools for SNN diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Capital University of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Li Xia
authors.initials: LX
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Kan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Guang Wu
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Ren You
authors.initials: RY
authors.lastname: Zhai
keywords: Liver Neoplasms; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Tomography, X-Ray Computed