Perfusion computed tomographic assessment of early hepatocellular carcinoma in cirrhotic liver disease: initial observations.

Objective: To prospectively assess perfusion computed tomography (CT) for evaluation of tumor vascularity of early hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with cirrhosis.

Methods: The study cohort included 30 patients who had Child-Pugh class A or B liver cirrhosis and a single histopathologically confirmed HCC not exceeding 3 cm in diameter. All patients underwent perfusion CT study using a multidetector 16-slice CT. Four perfusion parameters were measured for the HCCs and cirrhotic liver parenchyma: hepatic perfusion (HP), blood volume (BV), arterial perfusion (AP), and time to peak (TTP). Perfusion parameters were described with quartile (qt) values of their distribution; univariate paired Wilcoxon signed rank test was used for statistical analysis.

Results: The values of perfusion parameters measured within tumor tissue were the following: HP (milliliters per 100 g per minute): median = 45.7 (first qt = 35.3; third qt = 61.3); BV (milliliters per 100 mg): median = 20.6 (first qt = 13.0; third qt = 27.6); AP (milliliters per minute): median = 44.2 (first qt = 36.7; third qt = 57.0); TTP (seconds): median = 18.7 (first q = 15.9; third qt = 24.0). Our data showed that HP, BV, and AP values were higher (P < 0.001), whereas TTP was lower (P < 0.001), in HCCs relative to the cirrhotic liver parenchyma. For all the CT perfusion parameters calculated, there was a significant difference between HCC and background cirrhotic liver.

Conclusions: Preliminary results suggest that in patients with cirrhosis and early HCC, perfusion CT is a feasible technique for noninvasive assessment of tumor vascularity.