Diagnostic performance of contrast-enhanced ultrasound in differential diagnosis of hypoechoic focal hepatic lesions in fatty liver

Objective To assess the diagnostic rate of contrast-enhanced ultrasound(CEUS)in differential diagnosis of hypoechoic focal hepatic lesions in fatty liver(HFHLFL),then the results were compared with gray scale ultrasound.Methods Sixty-eight HFHLFLs were examined by gray scale ultrasound and CEUS.Then the sonograms were analyzed to diagnose whether they were malignant or benign.The correct diagnostic rate of CEUS and gray scale ultrasound was calculated,ROC curves were analyzed and the observation agreements Kappa value was calculated.Results The correct diagnostic rate of CEUS(82.4% and 85.3%)was higher than that of gray scale ultrasound(P0.01).The area under ROC curve(0.881 and 0.873)of CEUS was larger than that of gray scale ultrasound(0.635 and 0.720),observer agreement of CEUS was increased(Kappa=0.675)compared with gray scale ultrasound(Kappa=0.382).Conclusion CEUS is an effective method in differential diagnosis of HFHLFL.