Differentiation between hepatocellular carcinoma and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma using contrast-enhanced ultrasound: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Author(s):  
Yanling Chen ◽  
Wenping Wang

AIM: To explore the diagnostic ability of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in distinguishing intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science were systematically searched for studies reporting the diagnostic accuracy of CEUS in differentiating ICC from HCC. The diagnostic ability of CEUS was assessed based on the pooled sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR) and area under the curve (AUC) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The methodologic quality was assessed by the QUADAS-2 tool. Subgroup analyses, meta-regression and investigation of publication bias were performed to identify the source of heterogeneity. RESULTS: A total of eight studies were included, consisting of 1,116 patients with HCC and 529 with ICC. The general diagnostic performance of CEUS in distinguishing ICC and HCC were as follows: pooled sensitivity, 0.92 (95% CI: 0.84–0.96); pooled specificity, 0.87 (95% CI: 0.79–0.92); pooled PLR, 7.1 (95% CI: 4.1–12.0); pooled NLR, 0.09 (95% CI: 0.05–0.19); pooled DOR, 76 (95% CI: 26–220) and AUC, 0.95(95% CI: 0.93–0.97). Different liver background may be a potential factor that influenced the diagnostic accuracy of CEUS according to the subgroup analysis, with the pooled DOR of 89.67 in the mixed liver background group and 46.87 in the cirrhosis group, respectively. Six informative CEUS features that may help differentiate HCC from ICC were extracted. The three CEUS features favoring HCC were arterial phase hyperenhancement(APHE), mild washout and late washout (>60s); the three CEUS favoring ICC were arterial rim enhancement, marked washout and early washout(<60s). No potential publication bias was observed. CONCLUSION: CEUS showed great diagnostic ability in differentiating ICC from HCC, which may be promising for noninvasive evaluation of these diseases.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinyue Ge ◽  
Zhong-Kai Lan ◽  
Jing Chen ◽  
Shang-Yong Zhu

Aim: The study retrospectively analysed the accuracy of preoperative contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in differenti-ating stage Ta-T1 or low-grade bladder cancer (BC) from stage T2 or high-grade bladder cancer. Material and methods: We systematically searched the literature indexed in PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library for original diagnostic articles of bladder cancer. The diagnostic accuracy of CEUS was compared with cystoscopy and/or transurethral resection of bladder tumors (TURBT). The bivariate logistic regression model was used for data pooling, couple forest plot, diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) and summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC). Results: Five studies met the selection criteria; the overall number of reported bladder cancers patients were 436. The pooled-sensitivity (P-SEN), pooled-specificity (P-SPE), pooled-positive likelihood ratio (PLR+), pooled-negative likelihood ratio (PLR−), DOR, and area under the SROC curve were 94.0% (95%CI: 85%–98%), 90% (95%CI: 83%–95%), 9.5 (95%CI: 5.1–17.6), 0.06 (95%CI: 0.02–0.17), 147 (95%CI: 35–612) and 97% (95% CI: 95%–98%) respectively. Conclusion: CEUS reaches a high efficiency in discriminating Ta-T1 or low-grade bladder cancer from stage T2 or high-grade bladder cancer. It can be a promising method in patients to distinguish T staging and grading of bladder cancer because of its high sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy.


Author(s):  
D. Strobel ◽  
E.-M. Jung ◽  
M. Ziesch ◽  
M. Praktiknjo ◽  
A. Link ◽  
...  

Abstract Objectives Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) can be diagnosed non-invasively with contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in cirrhosis if the characteristic pattern of arterial phase hyperenhancement followed by hypoenhancement is present. Recent studies suggest that diagnosis based on this “hyper-hypo” pattern needs further refinement. This study compares the diagnostic accuracies of standardized CEUS for HCC according to the current guideline definition and following the newly developed CEUS algorithms (CEUS LI-RADS®, ESCULAP) in a prospective multicenter real-life setting. Methods Cirrhotic patients with liver lesions on B-mode ultrasound were recruited prospectively from 04/2018 to 04/2019, and clinical and imaging data were collected. The CEUS standard included an additional examination point after 4–6 min in case of no washout after 3 min. The diagnostic accuracies of CEUS following the guidelines (“hyper-hypo” pattern), based on the examiner’s subjective interpretation (“CEUS subjective”), and based on the CEUS algorithms ESCULAP and CEUS LI-RADS® were compared. Results In total, 470 cirrhotic patients were recruited in 43 centers. The final diagnosis was HCC in 378 cases (80.4%) according to the reference standard (histology 77.4%, MRI 16.4%, CT 6.2%). The “hyper-hypo” pattern yielded 74.3% sensitivity and 63% specificity. “CEUS subjective” showed a higher diagnostic accuracy (sensitivity, 91.5%; specificity, 67.4%; positive predictive value, 92%; negative predictive value, 66%). Sensitivity was higher for ESCULAP (95%) and “CEUS subjective” (91.5%) versus CEUS LI-RADS® (65.2%; p < 0.001). Specificity was highest for CEUS LI-RADS® (78.6%; p < 0.001). Conclusions CEUS has an excellent diagnostic accuracy for the non-invasive diagnosis of HCC in cirrhosis. CEUS algorithms may be a helpful refinement of the “hyper-hypo” pattern defined by current HCC guidelines. Key Points • Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) has a high diagnostic accuracy for the non-invasive diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in cirrhosis. • The CEUS algorithm ESCULAP (Erlanger Synopsis for Contrast-enhanced Ultrasound for Liver lesion Assessment in Patients at risk) showed the highest sensitivity, whereas the CEUS LI-RADS® (Contrast-Enhanced UltraSound Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System) algorithm yielded the highest specificity. • A standardized CEUS examination procedure with an additional examination point in the late phase, after 4–6 min in lesions with no washout after 3 min, is vital.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lian-Feng Liu ◽  
Zhan-Ling Ding ◽  
Jian-Hong Zhong ◽  
Hong-Xue Li ◽  
Jun-Jie Liu ◽  
...  

Objective. To evaluate contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) for monitoring early intrahepatic recurrence of primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after curative treatment. Methods. We prospectively analyzed 97 patients (124 nodules) with primary HCC who underwent hepatic resection or radiofrequency ablation and subsequently experienced intrahepatic recurrence. Patients were assessed with conventional ultrasound and CEUS. They were also assessed with contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) and/or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The image characteristics of CEUS of recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma and high-grade dysplastic nodules (HGDNs) were analyzed. In addition, the ability of CEUS and CECT/MRI to assess internal artery vascularization in recurrent disease was compared. Results. CEUS of recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma showed hyperenhancement in the arterial phase in 96 of 99 nodules, and it showed hypo- or isoenhancement for portal venous and delayed phases. The most common enhancement patterns were “fast-in and slow-out” and “fast-in and fast-out”. Based on the arterial hyperenhancement of lesions and with clinical data such as patient history of HCC and increased level of serum alpha-fetoprotein, the diagnostic accuracy of CEUS for recurrent HCC was significantly higher than that based on the enhancement pattern of “fast-in and fast-out”. CEUS of HGDNs showed local or global hyperenhancement during the arterial phase, isoenhancement during the portal venous phase, and isoenhancement or slight hypoenhancement during the delayed phase. The enhancement pattern was “fast-in and slow-out”. In some cases, it was difficult to differentiate HGDNs from recurrent disease using CEUS. Vascularization in recurrent disease was significantly higher when assessed by CEUS than when assessed with CECT/MRI (P < 0.05). For detecting recurrent disease, CEUS showed sensitivity of 97.0%, specificity of 68.0%, positive predictive value of 92.3%, and negative predictive value of 85.0%. The corresponding parameters for CECT/MRI were 71.7%, 72.0%, 88.8%, and 39.1%. Conclusion. Intrahepatic recurrent HCC and HGDNs with diameter ≤ 3.0 cm have a characteristic appearance on CEUS. This imaging modality may be effective for monitoring early intrahepatic recurrence after curative treatment of primary HCC.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Chang ◽  
Alexia Dumitrache ◽  
Nina Böhling ◽  
Jasmin Abu-Omar ◽  
Carsten Meyer ◽  
...  

AbstractTransjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) can treat portal hypertensive complications and modifies hepatic hemodynamics. Modification of liver perfusion can alter contrast enhancement dynamics of liver nodules. This study investigated the diagnostic performance of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) to diagnose hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in cirrhosis with TIPS. In this prospective monocentric observational study, CEUS was used to characterize focal liver lesions in patients at risk for HCC with and without TIPS. Times of arterial phase hyperenhancement (APHE) und washout were quantified. Perfusion-index (PI) and resistance-index (RI) of hepatic artery and portal venous flow parameters were measured via doppler ultrasonography. Diagnostic gold standard was MRI/CT or histology. This study included 49 liver lesions [23 TIPS (11 HCC), 26 no TIPS (15 HCC)]. 26 were diagnosed as HCC by gold standard. Sensitivity and specificity of CEUS to diagnose HCC with and without TIPS were 93.3% and 100% vs. 90.9% and 93.3%, respectively. APHE appeared significantly earlier in patients with TIPS compared to patients without TIPS. TIPS significantly accentuates APHE of HCC in CEUS. CEUS has good diagnostic performance for diagnosis of HCC in patients with TIPS.


2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (9) ◽  
pp. 1036-1044 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Schellhaas ◽  
Ruediger S. Görtz ◽  
Lukas Pfeifer ◽  
Christian Kielisch ◽  
Markus F. Neurath ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (06) ◽  
pp. 667-674 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Schellhaas ◽  
Lukas Pfeifer ◽  
Christian Kielisch ◽  
Ruediger Goertz ◽  
Markus Neurath ◽  
...  

Abstract Objectives This pilot study aimed at assessing interobserver agreement with two contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) algorithms for the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in high-risk patients. Methods Focal liver lesions in 55 high-risk patients were assessed independently by three blinded observers with two standardized CEUS algorithms: ESCULAP (Erlanger Synopsis of Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound for Liver Lesion Assessment in Patients at risk) and ACR-CEUS-LI-RADSv.2016 (American College of Radiology CEUS-Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System). Lesions were categorized according to size and ultrasound contrast enhancement in the arterial, portal-venous and late phase. Interobserver agreement for assessment of enhancement pattern and categorization was compared between both CEUS algorithms. Additionally, diagnostic accuracy for the definitive diagnosis of HCC was compared. Histology and/or CE-MRI and follow-up served as reference standards. Results 55 patients were included in the study (male/female, 44/ 11; mean age: 65.9 years). 90.9 % had cirrhosis. Histological findings were available in 39/55 lesions (70.9 %). Reference standard of the 55 lesions revealed 48 HCCs, 2 intrahepatic cholangiocellular carcinomas (ICCs), and 5 non-HCC-non-ICC lesions. Interobserver agreement was moderate to substantial for arterial phase hyperenhancement (ĸ = 0.53 – 0.67), and fair to moderate for contrast washout in the portal-venous or late phase (ĸ = 0.33 – 0.53). Concerning the CEUS-based algorithms, the interreader agreement was substantial for the ESCULAP category (ĸ = 0.64 – 0.68) and fair for the CEUS-LI-RADS® category (ĸ = 0.3 – 0.39). Disagreement between observers was mostly due to different perception of washout. Conclusion Interobserver agreement is better for ESCULAP than for CEUS-LI-RADS®. This is mostly due to the fact that perception of contrast washout varies between different observers. However, interobserver agreement is good for arterial phase hyperenhancement, which is the key diagnostic feature for the diagnosis of HCC with CEUS in the cirrhotic liver.


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