B-flow imaging of vascular structure for the diagnosis of liver tumor.

Purpose: B-flow is a non-Doppler-based technology for visualizing blood flow and has a high spatial resolution. The aim of this study is to evaluate the blood flow information of liver tumors using B-flow in comparison with color Doppler sonography (CDS).

Methods: Seventy-nine patients with 82 hepatic nodules were studied using B-flow and CDS. The study group included 45 HCC nodules, 23 liver metastasis nodules, four intrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas (ICC), and 13 hemangiomas. The visualized vascularity and morphological findings of the hepatic tumor vessel were evaluated.

Results: B-flow showed multiple vessels in 48 nodules (58.5 %) and a single vessel in 13 nodules (15.9 %). CDS showed multiple vessels in 44 nodules (53.7 %) and a single vessel in 23 nodules (28.0 %). Multivariate analysis showed basket pattern was significant for HCC (OR 49.263; p = 0.0002), and penetrating vessel was significant for liver metastasis or ICC (OR 14.545; p < 0.0001).

Conclusion: B-flow detects hepatic tumor blood flow with sensitivity as high as that of CDS. Vascular structure information obtained using B-flow could be potentially used to diagnose liver tumors.