Thesis (Ph.D.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Medicine- Department of Tropical Medicine

Characterisation of a focal liver lesion requires the assessment of morphological characteristics as well as the vascularity and enhancement patterns within the lesion. Therefore, the administration of a contrast agent, demonstrating the intratumoural vascularity and blood flow, gives essential information for the characterisation of focal liver lesions AIM:The aim of this study was to assess the role of contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) using SonoVue for the characterisation of solid hepatic focal lesions. METHODS:This prospective study was conducted on 100 patients with hepatic focal lesions. CEUS using SonoVue, in addition to triphasic CT abdomen and/or dynamic MRI were done to all patients. RESULTS:In the differentiation between benign and malignant hepatic focal lesions; the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) and accuracy of CEUS using SonoVue was 87.8%, 97%, 98.5%, 78.1% and 90.7% respectively, and for CT and/or MRI it was 90.5%, 90.9%, 95.7%, 81.1%, 90.7% respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between CEUS and CT and/or MRI in the characterisation of hepatic focal lesions (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: CEUS using SonoVue is comparable to CT and/or MRI in the characterisation of hepatic focal lesions

Issued also as CD