Impact of diffusion-weighted MR imaging on the characterization of small hepatocellular carcinoma in the cirrhotic liver.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not adding diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) to conventional magnetic resonance (MR) imaging sequences improves the characterization of small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (≤2 cm) in the setting of cirrhotic liver compared to conventional sequences alone.

Materials And Methods: A total of 62 cirrhotic liver patients with 82 nodules smaller than 2 cm in diameter were enrolled, and all lesions were pathologically confirmed. For the first reading session, which included precontrast T1- and T2-weighted images and T1 dynamic contrast-enhanced images, preindicated lesions by a study coordinator were characterized by two radiologists. They determined the confidence levels in consensus for the presence of small HCC into four grades. In another session, respiratory-triggered diffusion-weighted MR images (b factor=50, 400 and 800 s/mm(2)) were added to the previously reviewed images, and the same two radiologists again determined the confidence levels. The diagnostic performance of the combined DWI-conventional sequences set and the conventional sequences alone set was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic curves. Sensitivity and specificity values for characterizing small HCCs were also calculated.

Results: The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for the second interpretation session (0.86) was significantly higher (P=.038) than that of the first session (0.76). The sensitivity was significantly increased from 75.7% to 87.8% by adding DWI to the conventional sequences (P=.015). No significant differences were observed for specificity values.

Conclusion: Adding DWI to conventional imaging modalities improves the diagnosis of small HCCs in the cirrhotic liver in terms of diagnostic performance and sensitivity by increasing reader confidence.