Perilesional enhancement of liver cavernous hemangiomas in magnetic resonance imaging.

Objective: To evaluate on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) the occurrence rate of temporal perilesional parenchymal enhancement (PPE) associated with hepatic hemangiomas in a large consecutive series and to determine which aspects are associated with this observation.

Materials And Methods: Institutional review board approved this retrospective study. A computerized search of the MRI database was performed for consecutive patients between January 2008 and January 2012. The study population included 513 liver hemangiomas in 224 patients (104 males and 120 females; mean age of 55.2 ± 13.5 years; age range 24-89 years). Two readers independently reviewed the frequency of PPE, size, speed of enhancement and location of each hemangioma. Marginal models with generalized estimating equation were used. Wald test was applied to verify if the model coefficients were significant.

Results: 80/513 (15.6%) hemangiomas showed PPE. The incidence of PPE was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in hemangiomas with Type1 speed of enhancement (51/80, 63.8%) than in those with Type2 or Type3. 66/80 (82.5%) hemangiomas with PPE were subcapsular (p < 0.05). Conversely, the majority (280/433, 64.7%) of hemangiomas without PPE were deep in location (p < 0.001). Lesser proportion of hemangiomas with PPE was located in segment IVa (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: PPE is not uncommonly seen along with hepatic hemangiomas. This appearance is most frequently observed in rapidly enhancing small lesions with a subcapsular location.