Ultraschall Med 2005; 26 - P033
DOI: 10.1055/s-2005-917533

HEPATIC TUMOR DETECTION AND CHARACTERIZATION USING LIVER SPECIFIC US CONTRAST AGENT “SONAZOID“: A COMPARATIVE STUDY WITH BASE LINE US AND CT

K Koito 1, M Nishida 2, N Hirokawa 1, T Sato 1, M Hareyama 1
  • 1Department of Radiology
  • 2Department of Radiation Oncology and Diagnosis, Sapporo Medical University, Sapporo, Japan

Purpose: To assess the diagnostic ability of contrast enhanced US (CEUS) for hepatic tumors by using liver specific US contrast agent “Sonazoid“.

Methods and Materials: This study was performed as a part of the third phase of Japanese clinical trial for hepatic tumor diagnosis and safety of CEUS using Sonazoid. We selected 14 hepatic nodules including 8 hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC), 3 metastatic tumors (META), and 3 hemangiomas (HEM). All the patients with those hepatic tumors underwent baseline US, CEUS, and enhanced CT. CEUS was performed at vascular phase (approximately 15–60 seconds after injection of Sonazoid), as well as parenchymal phase (approximately 10 minutes after injection of Sonazoid). The enhanced method was pulse inversion by using Toshiba Aplio, and mechanical index was set at 0.5. CT scanning was performed at arterial and portal phases. The images of baseline US, CEUS, and CT were blindly read by experienced radiologists, respectively.

Results: Accuracy rate of hepatic tumor detection was; US 71.4%, CEUS 92.9%, CT 85.7%, and accuracy rate of tumor characterization was; US 64.3%, CEUS 64.3%, CT 85.7%. Although detection rate of CEUS was higher than that of CT, no significant difference could be seen in both tumor detection and characterization among US, CEUS, and CT. At a parenchymal phase, all but one HCC and all META nodules revealed complete perfusion defect. The HCC nodule showing incomplete perfusion defect was well-differentiated HCC and contained moderate amount of Kupffer cells in it, resulting in incomplete perfusion defect. META nodules showed centri-petal filling-in enhancement at a vascular phase and sustained enhancement at a parenchymal phase. We could not encounter any hazardous side effects due to administration of Sonazoid and performing CEUS.

Conclusions: CEUS using Sonazoid is considered to be a safe technique for hepatic tumor diagnosis. In addition, it has the same diagnostic ability in tumor detection as well as characterization of the hepatic nodules as that of CT.