title: Current consensus and guidelines of contrast enhanced ultrasound for the characterization of focal liver lesions.
abstract: The application of ultrasound contrast agents (UCAs) is considered essential when evaluating focal liver lesions (FLLs) using ultrasonography (US). Microbubble UCAs are easy to use and robust; their use poses no risk of nephrotoxicity and requires no ionizing radiation. The unique features of contrast enhanced US (CEUS) are not only noninvasiveness but also real-time assessing of liver perfusion throughout the vascular phases. The later feature has led to dramatic improvement in the diagnostic accuracy of US for detection and characterization of FLLs as well as the guidance to therapeutic procedures and evaluation of response to treatment. This article describes the current consensus and guidelines for the use of UCAs for the FLLs that are commonly encountered in US. After a brief description of the bases of different CEUS techniques, contrast-enhancement patterns of different types of benign and malignant FLLs and other clinical applications are described and discussed on the basis of our experience and the literature data.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Digestive Research, Digestive Disease Center, Department of Internal Medicine, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: Moon Young
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Soung Won
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.forename: Tae Yeob
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Seung Up
authors.initials: SU
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sae Hwan
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Ki Tae
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Suk
authors.forename: Soo Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Hyun Young
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Woo
authors.forename: Sang Gyune
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jeong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Heo
authors.forename: Soon Koo
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Baik
authors.forename: Hong Soo
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Won Young
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Tak
mesh_terms: D003287:Contrast Media / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000737:chemistry; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D013459:Sulfur Hexafluoride / Q000737:chemistry; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014463:Ultrasonography
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D010743:Phospholipids; D013459:Sulfur Hexafluoride
keywords: Contrast enhanced Ultrasonography (CEUS); Focal liver lesions (FLLs); Guidelines