Contrast-enhanced ultrasound for characterisation of @entity99 appearing non-hypervascular on CT in chronic XXXX .

@entity1 @entity82 @entity1584 @entity75 @entity409 @entity157 @entity99
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this prospective study was to elucidate the efficacy of using contrast-enhanced ultrasound to characterise focal @entity99 appearing non-hypervascular on contrast-enhanced CT in chronic @entity409 . METHODS: The study population included 22 @entity1 with @entity82 or chronic @entity99 , who between them had 27 focal @entity99 smaller than 20 mm (mean 13.9    3.4) that appeared non-hypervascular on contrast-enhanced CT. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound with @entity1584 microbubble agent (Sonazoid, 0.0075 ml kg(-1)) was performed prior to ultrasound-guided needle biopsy, and intensity analysis was done for @entity99 in the early phase (-60 s) and late phase (600 s post injection). RESULTS: All seven early-phase hyperenhanced lesions were @entity157 ( @entity157 ). 20 lesions iso- or hypoenhanced during the early phase consisted of 11 regenerative nodules (RNs) and 9 HCCs. @entity157 was more frequent in early-phase hyperenhanced lesions than in iso- or @entity75 (p=0.0108). Both late-phase @entity75 were HCCs, whereas 25 late-phase isoenhanced lesions consisted of 11 RNs and 14 HCCs. The enhancement patterns of the 11 RNs included isoenhanced appearance in both the early and late phases in 8 lesions, and early-phase hypoenhancement combined with late-phase isoenhancement in the remaining 3. Both of these enhancement patterns (i.e. either iso-iso or hypo-iso) were found in 9 malignant lesions, 9 (75%) of the 12 well-differentiated HCCs. CONCLUSION: Hypervascularity on contrast-enhanced ultrasound with Sonazoid strongly suggested @entity157 regardless of non-hypervascularity on CT, and late-phase hypoenhancement was another possible finding of @entity157 . However, characterisation of @entity99 with other enhancement patterns was difficult using our technique.
