Evaluation of posttreatment response of hepatocellular carcinoma: comparison of ultrasonography with second-generation ultrasound contrast agent and multidetector CT

We evaluated the ability of one-month follow-up contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) with second-generation contrast agent in monitoring radio frequency ablation (RFA) and transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) treatments of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). One-hundred forty-eight HCCs were studied using CEUS: 110 nodules were treated with RFA [41/110 RFA were performed using a pretreatment and an immediate postablation evaluation using CEUS (group 1); 69/110 using only US guidance (group 2)] and 38 nodules treated with TACE. For statistical analysis, McNemar test was used. Overall complete response was observed in 107/148 nodules (92/110 treated with RFA and 15/38 with TACE). A better rate of complete response was found in group 1 compared to group 2 (92.7% vs. 78.3%). In RFA treatment, CEUS showed a sensitivity of 83.3% and a specificity of 100% (diagnostic accuracy of 97%) using MDCT as reference standard with no statistical difference (p > 0.05). CEUS detected all cases of incomplete response in HCC treated with TACE using angiography as reference standard (diagnostic accuracy 100%). We recommend assessing residual intratumoral flow on CEUS during RFA procedure to determine the necessity of immediate additional treatment. In case of positive CEUS results, HCC treated with TACE should be considered still viable.