title: High-resolution sonography for distinguishing neoplastic gallbladder polyps and staging gallbladder cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE. The purposes of this study were to compare staging accuracy of high-resolution sonography (HRUS) with combined low- and high-MHz transducers with that of conventional sonography for gallbladder cancer and to investigate the differences in the imaging findings of neoplastic and nonneoplastic gallbladder polyps. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Our study included 37 surgically proven gallbladder cancer (T1a = 7, T1b = 2, T2 = 22, T3 = 6), including 15 malignant neoplastic polyps and 73 surgically proven polyps (neoplastic = 31, nonneoplastic = 42) that underwent HRUS and conventional transabdominal sonography. Two radiologists assessed T-category and predefined polyp findings on HRUS and conventional transabdominal sonography. Statistical analyses were performed using chi-square and McNemar tests. RESULTS. The diagnostic accuracy for the T category was T1a = 92-95%, T1b = 89-95%, T2 = 78-86%, and T3 = 84-89%, all with good agreement (κ = 0.642) using HRUS. The diagnostic accuracy for differentiating T1 from T2 or greater than T2 was 92% and 89% on HRUS and 65% and 70% with conventional transabdominal sonography. Statistically common findings for neoplastic polyps included size greater than 1 cm, single lobular surface, vascular core, hypoechoic polyp, and hypoechoic foci (p < 0.05). The value of HRUS in the differential diagnosis of a gallbladder polyp was more clearly depicted internal echo foci than conventional transabdominal sonography (39 vs 21). A polyp size greater than 1 cm was independently associated with a neoplastic polyp (odds ratio = 7.5, p = 0.02). The AUC of a polyp size greater than 1 cm was 0.877. The sensitivity and specificity were 66.67% and 89.13%, respectively. CONCLUSION. HRUS is a simple method that enables accurate T categorization of gallbladder carcinoma. It provides high-resolution images of gallbladder polyps and may have a role in stratifying the risk for malignancy.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Radiology and Institute of Radiation Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, 101 Daehang-no, Chongno-gu, Seoul 110-744, Korea.
authors.forename: Jung Hoon
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jae Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jee Hyun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Baek
authors.forename: Hyo Won
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Eun
authors.forename: Young Jae
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Joon Koo
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Byung Ihn
authors.initials: BI
authors.lastname: Choi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D005705:Gallbladder Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005706:Gallbladder Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011127:Polyps / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000379:methods
keywords: gallbladder cancer; gallbladder polyp; high-resolution sonography; sonography; transducers