Characterization of focal liver lesions undetermined at grayscale US: contrast-enhanced US versus 64-row MDCT and MRI with liver specific contrast agent

Purpose. The aim of this study was to assess the role of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) in the characterisation of focal liver lesions in comparison with multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with liver-specific contrast agent. Materials and methods. One hundred and eighty-seven focal liver lesions, 91 malignant and 96 benign (mean size 3.2 cm) – proved by biopsy (n=12), histology (n=4), MDCT (n=108), MRI (n=44) MDCT/MRI (n=19) – in 159 patients were studied by CEUS. Two expert radiologists consensually evaluated the contrastenhancement patterns at CEUS. For each lesion, they assessed: (a) nature (benign, malignant, not assessable), (b) specific diagnosis and (c) need for further radiological evaluation. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values and diagnostic accuracy of CEUS were calculated