Application value of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography for assessing the high-risk population of hepatic malignant tumor.

Objective To investigate the clinical value of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) in assessing the high-risk population of hepatic malignant tumor (HMT). Methods Three hundred patients with high-risk of HMT were enrolled and examined by CEUS. The clinical data of these patients were collected. A comparative analysis was performed to assess the ability of CEUS for detecting and characterizing lesions in the liver. Kappa test was used for assessing the intra-and inter-observer reliability of CEUS. Results In 87 enrolled patients with 119 malignant lesions detected by contrast-enhanced MKI. 112 lesions were detected by CEUS and 95 lesions were detected by unenhanced ultrasonography ( US). The detection rate of CEUS for HMT was significant higher than that of US (94.1% vs. 79.8% ; P<0.01). More HMT lesions were detected by CEUS than by US in 17.2% patients. One hundred and seventy-seven patients with 215 lesions were confirmed by pathological diagnosis or long-time follow-up. There were 118 malignant and 97 benign lesions. The accuracy of CEUS for differential diagnosis of the liver lesions was 91.6% ( 197/ 215), significantly higher than that by US (59.1%, 127/215) (P<0.01). CEUS improved the accuracy for 35.0% (62/177) patients. For 96 patients with 105 lesions detected for the first time, the agreement of diagnosis by CEUS was 92.4% (97/105). The reliability of CEUS was high (Kappa_inter =0.866; Kappa_intra = 0.934). Conclusions CEUS improves the detection rate and diagnostic accuracy rate of the HMT high-risk population, with a high agreement for diagnosing the new lesions. CEUS may be considered as a first-line method to assess the high-risk population of HMT conveniently, accurately and reliably. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]