Contrast enhancement patterns of hepatocellular carcinoma with portal vein thrombosis

Purpose. To study contrast enhancement patterns of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in cases with portal thrombosis and without it.Materials and methods. 61 consecutive patients with HCC were included in the study and divided into two groups: 41 patient with portal vein thrombosis (main group) and 20 patients without thrombosis (control group). Each patient underwent a abdominal CE MDCT for the analysis of the lesion contrast enhancement.Results. The 1st – “classic” – contrast enhancement pattern with a peak at arterial phase was observed in 2 (5%) patients with HCC complicated by portal thrombosis and in 10 (50%) patients without thrombosis (p < 0.01). The 2nd – “hypervascular” pattern with a peak shifted in 60–120s after contrast agent administration and no wash out was observed in 14 (34%) patients in the main group and in 10 (50%) patients in the control group (p = 0.4). The 3rd pattern – inhomogeneous contrast enhancement of liver parenchyma in the territory of thrombosed vein without visible tumor was discovered in 17 (41%) cases (p < 0.01). The 4th pattern – peripheral enhancement in arterial and portal phase with insignificant central enhancement in delayed phase was visualized in 8 cases (20%, p = 0.072).Conclusion. Portal thrombosis, which complicates the course of HCC, significantly changes the patterns of tumor’s contrast enhancement. This should be taken into account when image analysis to avoid diagnostic errors.