Clinical Value of Contrast-enhanced Ultrasound in Differentiating Benign and Malignant Focal Liver Lesions

To explore the clinical value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in differentiating benign and malignant focal liver lesions (FLLs) with SonoVue, CEUS was used to examine 113 pa- tients with focal liver lesions (FLLs) in our hospital during July 2005 to December 2006. All the pa- tients underwent contrast-enhanced CT (CECT) or contrast-enhanced MRI (CEMRI). Except for pa- tients with focal fatty sparings (n=18) and with hemangiomas (n=8), all the patients were confirmed by operation or ultrasonic-guided liver puncture biopsy. A sulfur hexafluoride gas-based contrast agent was used with a MI of 0.15 to 0.17. Forty-eight cases of malignant FLLs, including 30 hepato- cellular carcinomas (HCCs), 2 cholangiocarcinomas and 16 metastatic tumors, were detected. Sev- enty-eight cases of benign FLLs, including 33 hemangiomas, 9 focal nodular hyperplasias (FNHs), 19 focal fatty sparings, 5 abscesses, 7 regenerative nodules and 2 inflammatory pseudo-tumor, were in- volved. The contrast pattern of benign and malignant FLLs was quite different. CEUS has higher specificity and sensitivity than conventional ultrasound in differentiating benign and malignant FLLs.