Value of perfusion parameters and histogram analysis of triphasic computed tomography in pre-operative prediction of histological grade of hepatocellular carcinoma

Background: Pre-operative non-invasive histological evaluation of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains a challenge. Tumor perfusion is significantly associated with the development and aggressiveness of HCC. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the clinical value of quantitative liver perfusion parameters and corresponding histogram parameters derived from traditional triphasic enhanced computed tomography (CT) scans in predicting histological grade of HCC. Methods: Totally, 52 patients with HCC were enrolled in this retrospective study and underwent triple-phase enhanced CT imaging. The blood perfusion parameters were derived from triple-phase CT scans. The relationship of liver perfusion parameters and corresponding histogram parameters with the histological grade of HCC was analyzed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to determine the optimal ability of the parameters to predict the tumor histological grade. Results: The variance of arterial enhancement fraction (AEF) was significantly higher in HCCs without poorly differentiated components (NP-HCCs) than in HCCs with poorly differentiated components (P-HCCs). The difference in hepatic blood flow (HF) between total tumor and total liver flow (Delta HF = HFtumor - HFliver) and relative flow (rHF = Delta HF/HFliver) were significantly higher in NP-HCCs than in P-HCCs. The difference in portal vein blood supply perfusion (PVP) between tumor and liver tissue (Delta PVP) and the Delta PVP/liver PVP ratio (rPVP) were significantly higher in patients with NP-HCCs than in patients with P-HCCs. The area under ROC (AUC) of Delta PVP and rPVP were both 0.697 with a high sensitivity of 84.2% and specificity of only 56.2%. The Delta HF and rHF had a higher specificity of 87.5% with an AUC of 0.681 and 0.673, respectively. The combination of rHF and rPVP showed the highest AUC of 0.732 with a sensitivity of 57.9% and specificity of 93.8%. The combined parameter of Delta HF and rPVP, rHF and rPVP had the highest positive predictive value of 0.903, and that of rPVP and Delta PVP had the highest negative predictive value of 0.781. Conclusion: Liver perfusion parameters and corresponding histogram parameters (including Delta HF, rHF, Delta PVP, rPVP, and AEF(variance)) in patients with HCC derived from traditional triphasic CT scans may be helpful to non-invasively and pre-operatively predict the degree of the differentiation of HCC.