Contrast‐Enhanced Ultrasound Quantification Assessment of Focal Fatty Variations in Liver Parenchyma

Authors:
Publisher website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to quantify contrast‐enhanced ultrasound enhancement of focal fatty sparing (FFS) and focal fatty infiltration (FFI) and compare it with adjacent liver parenchyma.Methods: This was a retrospective observational study yielding 42 cases in the last 4 years. Inclusion criteria were a focal liver lesion, adequate video availability, and an established diagnosis of FFS or FFI based on clinical or imaging follow‐up or a second modality. Contrast‐enhanced ultrasound examinations were performed with a standard low–mechanical index technique. Commercially available software calculated quantitative parameters for a focal liver lesion and a reference area of liver parenchyma, producing relative indices.Results: In total, 42 patients were analyzed (19 male) with a median age of 18 (interquartile range, 42) years and a median lesion diameter of 30 (interquartile range, 16) mm. The cohort included 26 with FFS and 16 with FFI. Subjectively assessed, 27% of FFS and 25% of FFI were hypoenhancing in the arterial phase, and 73% of FFS and 75% of FFI were isoenhancing. In the venous and delayed phases, all lesions were isoenhancing. The peak enhancement (P = .001), wash‐in area under the curve (P < .01), wash‐in rate (P = .023), and wash‐in perfusion index (P = .001) were significantly lower in FFS compared with adjacent parenchyma but not the mean transit time. In the FFI subgroup, no significant difference was detected. Comparing relative parameters, only the wash‐in rate was significantly (P = .049) lower in FFS than FFI. The mean follow‐up was 2.8 years.Conclusions: Focal fatty sparing shows significantly lower and slower enhancement than the liver parenchyma, whereas FFI enhances identically. Focal fatty sparing had a significantly slower enhancement than FFI.
Funding Information
  • Siemens Healthineers

This publication has 21 references indexed in Scilit: