Sonographic appearances of small hepatic nodules without tumor stain on contrast-enhanced computed tomography and angiography
✍ Scribed by Iwasaki, Masahiko; Furuse, Jyunji; Yoshino, Masahiro; Ryu, Munemasa; Moriyama, Noriyuki; Mukai, Kiyoshi
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1998
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 145 KB
- Volume
- 26
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0091-2751
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✦ Synopsis
Purpose:
We report the sonographic appearances and pathologic findings for hepatic nodules 2 cm or smaller that were detected by sonography but that did not produce a tumor stain on constrast-enhanced helical ct or digital subtraction angiography.
Methods:
Sixty-six nodules 2 cm or less were found by sonography in 39 patients. sonographically guided needle biopsies were done on all lesions.
Results:
Twenty-seven nodules were benign nodules, 9 were borderline lesions, and 30 were hepatocellular carcinomas. benign nodules were significantly smaller than hepatocellular carcinomas (mean size, 1.0 cm versus 1.4 cm, respectively; p <0.00001). nodules 1 cm or smaller were more likely to be diagnosed as benign nodules (68%) than as either of the other types (32%; p = 0.01). a significantly greater percentage of hepatocellular carcinomas showed a heterogeneous pattern (64%) on sonography compared with benign nodules (25%) and borderline lesions (11%; p = 0.04). in nodules 1 cm or smaller, a homogeneous pattern (68%) was more common than a heterogeneous pattern (32%; p = 0.01).
Conclusions:
The nature of small hepatic nodules cannot be determined with sonography. thus, biopsy remains the only technique for obtaining a definitive diagnosis.