[Pitfalls in computed tomography for diffuse liver diseases].

Clinical/methodical Issue: Misinterpretations in liver diagnostics could result in a false diagnosis, such as a parenchymatous damage or a false focal lesion.

Standard Radiological Methods: Computed tomography is a widely used diagnostic tool to visualize liver diseases.

Methodical Innovations: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is often used as a second diagnostic test to answer specific questions.

Performance: The more the condition of changes in liver parenchyma appearance in cross-sectional imaging is known the fewer mistakes will be made in the interpretation. Knowledge of these pitfalls helps to increase diagnostic accuracy.

Achievements: Magnetic resonance imaging could help to depict most of the pitfalls.

Practical Recommendations: By looking at diffuse or focal liver diseases radiologists should be aware of perfusion patterns and structural changes of the liver parenchyma to make a correct diagnosis.