Loco-regional treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma: Role of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the few cancers for which locoregional treatments (LRTs) are included in international guidelines and are considered as a valid alternative to conventional surgery. According to Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer classification, percutaneous treatments such as percutaneous ethanol injection, radiofrequency ablation and microwave ablation are the therapy of choice among curative treatments in patients categorized as very early and early stage, while transcatheter arterial chemoembolization is considered the better option for intermediate stage HCC. A precise assessment of treatment efficacy and surveillance is essential to optimize survival rate, whereas residual tumor requires additional treatment.

Focal liver lesions in cirrhosis: Role of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography.

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) represents a great innovation for the evaluation of focal liver lesions (FLLs). The main advantage of CEUS is the real-time imaging examination and the very low toxicity in patients with renal failure. Liver cirrhosis has been recognized as a major risk factor for the onset of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC).

New frontiers in liver ultrasound: From mono to multi parametricity.

Modern liver ultrasonography (US) has become a "one-stop shop" able to provide not only anatomic and morphologic but also functional information about vascularity, stiffness and other various liver tissue properties. Modern US techniques allow a quantitative assessment of various liver diseases. US scanning is no more limited to the visualized plane, but three-dimensional, volumetric acquisition and consequent post-processing are also possible.

Focal Pancreatic Lesions: Role of Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasonography.

The introduction of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) has led to a significant improvement in the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound in the characterization of a pancreatic mass. CEUS, by using a blood pool contrast agent, can provide dynamic information concerning macro- and micro-circulation of focal lesions and of normal parenchyma, without the use of ionizing radiation. On the basis of personal experience and literature data, the purpose of this article is to describe and discuss CEUS imaging findings of the main solid and cystic pancreatic lesions with varying prevalence.

Liver stiffness quantification in biopsy-proven nonalcoholic fatty liver disease patients using shear wave elastography in comparison with transient elastography.

Purpose: This study prospectively assessed the performance of liver stiffness measurements using point shear-wave elastography (p-SWE) in comparison with transient elastography (TE) in patients with biopsy-proven nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Methods: Fifty-six consecutive adult patients with a histological diagnosis of NAFLD prospectively underwent TE and p-SWE on the same day. The median of 10 measurements (SWE-10), the first five (SWE-5), and the first three (SWE-3) measurements were analyzed for p-SWE.

Focal liver lesions: interobserver and intraobserver agreement of three-dimensional contrast-enhanced ultrasound-assisted volume measurements.

Purpose: This study was conducted to assess the interobserver and intraobserver agreement of three-dimensional contrast-enhanced ultrasound (3D-CEUS) volume calculations of focal liver lesions (FLLs).

Methods: Thirty-nine patients (15 men and 24 women; mean age, 55.4 years) with 39 FLLs (mean size, 3.

Hepatocellular carcinoma with macrovascular invasion: multimodality imaging features for the diagnosis.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is frequently associated with macrovascular invasion of the portal vein or hepatic veins in advanced stages. The accurate diagnosis of macrovascular invasion and the differentiation from bland non-tumoral thrombus has significant clinical and management implications, since it narrows the therapeutic options and it represents a mandatory contraindication for liver resection or transplantation. The imaging diagnosis remains particularly challenging since the imaging features of HCC with macrovascular invasion may be subtle, especially in lesions showing infiltrative appearance.

S-Detect characterization of focal breast lesions according to the US BI RADS lexicon: a pictorial essay.

High-resolution ultrasonography (US) is a valuable tool in breast imaging. Nevertheless, US is an operator-dependent technique: to overcome this issue, the American College of Radiology (ACR) has developed the breast imaging-reporting and data system (BI-RADS) US lexicon. Despite this effort, the variability in the assessment of focal breast lesions (FBLs) with the use of BI-RADS US lexicon is still an issue.

CEUS LI-RADS: a pictorial review.

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) greatly improved the diagnostic accuracy of US in the detection and characterization of focal liver lesions (FLLs), and it is suggested and often included in many international guidelines as an important diagnostic tool in the imaging work-up of cirrhotic patients at risk for developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In particular, CEUS Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS) provides standardized terminology, interpretation, and reporting for the diagnosis of HCC. The aim of this pictorial essay is to illustrate CEUS features of nodules discovered at US in cirrhotic liver according to LI-RADS categorization.

Communicating with the hepatobiliary surgeon through structured report.

Communicating radiological findings to hepatobiliary surgeons is not an easy task due to the complexity of liver imaging, coexistence of multiple hepatic lesions and different surgical treatment options. Recently, the adoption and implementation of structured report in everyday clinical practice has been supported to achieve higher quality, more reproducibility in communication and closer adherence to current guidelines. In this review article, we will illustrate the main benefits, strengths and limitations of structured reporting, with particular attention on the advantages and challenges of structured template in the preoperative evaluation of cirrhotic and non-cirrhotic patients with focal liver lesions.

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound of hepatocellular carcinoma: where do we stand?

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) represents a significant breakthrough in ultrasonography (US), and it is being increasingly used for the evaluation of focal liver lesions (FLLs). CEUS is unique in that it allows non-invasively assessment of liver perfusion in real time throughout the vascular phase, which has led to dramatic improvements in the diagnostic accuracy of US in the detection and characterization of FLLs, the choice of therapeutic procedures, and the evaluation of response. Currently, CEUS is included as a part of the suggested diagnostic work-up of FLLs, including in cirrhotic patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, resulting in better patient management and cost-effective delivery of therapy.

Focal nodular hyperplasia: a weight-based, intraindividual comparison of gadobenate dimeglumine and gadoxetate disodium-enhanced MRI.

Purpose: We aimed to qualitatively and quantitatively compare the enhancement pattern of focal nodular hyperplasia after gadobenate dimeglumine and gadoxetate disodium injection in the same patient.

Methods: 1.5 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations of 16 patients with 21 focal nodular hyperplasias studied after the injection of both contrast media were evaluated.

Diffuse Liver Diseases: Role of imaging.

Nowadays, the most common imaging techniques allow to study focal liver lesions with high diagnostic accuracy but a relatively recent emerging field of interest is represented by diffuse liver disease. They include a variegated series of storage and metabolic pathologies (ie, iron overload disorders and steatosis) requiring a precise diagnosis not always possible at imaging due to the overlapping of findings at conventional ultrasound, CT, or MR studies. In recent years, several imaging tecniques and specific softwares have been developed, especially for ultrasound and MR imaging, in order to identify different parameters useful in the noninvasive recognition and follow-up of these diffuse processes involving the liver.

Detection of liver metastases in cancer patients with geographic fatty infiltration of the liver: the added value of contrast-enhanced sonography.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to assess the role of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) in the detection of liver metastases in cancer patients with geographic liver fatty deposition on greyscale ultrasonography (US).

Methods: Thirty-seven consecutive cancer patients (24 women and 13 men; age, 33 to 80 years; mean, 58.1 years) with geographic liver fatty deposition, but without any detectable focal liver lesion on greyscale US, underwent sulphur hexafluoride-enhanced US.

Value of serial magnetic resonance imaging in the assessment of brain metastases volume control during stereotactic radiosurgery.

Aim: To evaluate brain metastases volume control capabilities of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) through serial magnetic resonance (MR) imaging follow-up.

Methods: MR examinations of 54 brain metastases in 31 patients before and after SRS were reviewed. Patients were included in this study if they had a pre-treatment MR examination and serial follow-up MR examinations at 6 wk, 9 wk, 12 wk, and 12 mo after SRS.

Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound in Focal Liver Lesions: Where Do We Stand?

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) represents a significant breakthrough in sonography, and it is being increasingly used for the evaluation of focal liver lesions (FLLs). Currently, CEUS is included as a part of the suggested diagnostic workup of FLLs, resulting in a better patient management and delivering cost-effective therapy. After a brief technical note, contrast-enhancement patterns of different types of benign and malignant FLLs, along with hepatic pseudolesions, are described and discussed based on our experience and literature data.

Imaging of Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors: From Diagnosis to Evaluation of Therapeutic Response.

Once considered an obscure tumor entity with poor prognosis, gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are nowadays recognized as the most common mesenchymal tumors of the alimentary tract. GISTs differ from other mesenchymal neoplasms at pathology since 90% of them exhibit strong immunohistochemical staining for KIT, a tyrosinase kinase growth factor receptor. In the early 2000s, the ability of imatinib mesylate, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, to inhibit KIT established a new paradigm for cancer treatment.

Magnetic resonance imaging of the cirrhotic liver in the era of gadoxetic acid.

Gadoxetic acid improves detection and characterization of focal liver lesions in cirrhotic patients and can estimate liver function in patients undergoing liver resection. The purpose of this article is to describe the optimal gadoxetic acid study protocol for the liver, the unique characteristics of gadoxetic acid, the differences between gadoxetic acid and extra-cellular gadolium chelates, and the differences in phases of enhancement between cirrhotic and normal liver using gadoxetic acid. We also discuss how to obtain and recognize an adequate hepatobiliary phase.

3D versus 2D contrast-enhanced sonography in the evaluation of therapeutic response of hepatocellular carcinoma after locoregional therapies: preliminary findings.

Objective: To investigate diagnostic performance of 3D contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) compared with 2D CEUS in the assessment of therapeutic response of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated with locoregional therapies (LRT).

Materials And Methods: Twenty-three consecutive patients (13 men and 10 women; mean age 65.5 years) with 23 HCCs (size range 1.

Focal lesions in cirrhotic liver: what else beyond hepatocellular carcinoma?

Detection and characterization of focal lesions in the cirrhotic liver may pose a diagnostic dilemma. Several benign and malignant lesions may be found in a cirrhotic liver along with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and may exhibit typical or atypical imaging features. In this pictorial essay, we illustrate computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging findings of lesions such as simple bile duct cysts, hemangioma, focal nodular hyperplasia-like nodules, peribiliary cysts, intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, lymphoma, and metastases, all of which occur in cirrhotic livers with varying prevalences.

Imaging findings of hepatic focal nodular hyperplasia in men and women: are they really different?

Purpose: This study was undertaken to compare the imaging findings of focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) in men and women, as seen on multidetector computed tomography (MDCT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS).

Materials And Methods: Two radiologists reviewed 195 imaging studies (17 MDCT, 81 MRI and 97 CEUS examinations) pertaining to 111 FNHs (mean size 3 cm) in 91 patients (mean age 39 years). For each lesion, the readers assessed size, location, echogenicity, attenuation, or signal intensity in comparison with adjacent liver parenchyma on both unenhanced and postcontrast images.

Splenic hemangiomas: contrast-enhanced sonographic findings.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to illustrate the baseline appearance and enhancement patterns of splenic hemangiomas on contrast-enhanced sonography.

Methods: Two experienced radiologists retrospectively reviewed by consensus baseline and contrast-enhanced sonographic examinations of 27 patients (14 women and 13 men; mean age, 58.7 years) with 27 splenic hemangiomas (mean size, 2 cm) confirmed by splenectomy, biopsy, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging and follow-up.

Enhancement pattern of small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) at contrast-enhanced US (CEUS), MDCT, and MRI: intermodality agreement and comparison of diagnostic sensitivity between 2005 and 2010 American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) guidelines.

Objective: To evaluate agreement between contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS), multi-detector row computed tomography (MDCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the assessment of typical and atypical enhancement patterns of small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); and to compare diagnostic sensitivity of 2005 and 2010 American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) guidelines.

Materials And Methods: Between January 2008 and December 2009, we included cirrhotic patients with newly diagnosed 10-20 mm HCC imaged at two contrast-enhanced imaging techniques among CEUS, MDCT, and MRI. Dynamic studies were reviewed by two radiologists to assess enhancement pattern.

Imaging findings of liver resection using a bipolar radiofrequency electrosurgical device--initial observations.

Objective: To assess contrast-enhanced US (CEUS), computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging findings and serial changes of the treated area at follow-up in patients who underwent liver resection using a bipolar radiofrequency electrosurgical device.

Methods: Imaging findings of 27 patients with resected hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) (n=24) and metastases (n=3) (mean size: 2.6cm), were retrospectively evaluated.