The value of three-dimensional ultrasound and color Doppler imaging in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant tumors of the liver

Objective To evaluate three-dimensional(3-D)ultrasound and color Doppler ultra- sonography for differentiating between benign and malignant hepatic tumors.Methods Totally,37 patents with malignant hepatic tumor and 36 with benign tumor were included.Their diagnoses were confirmed by surgery and pathology.Using Aloka-5500 ultrasound system and TomTec 3-D imaging system,the blood flow signals in the tumors,parameters of perforating branches and ratio of color blood flow signal volume to tumoral volume(volume index,Ⅵ)were evaluated by 3-D reconstruction in the 2 groups.Results In be- nign and malignant hepatic tumor groups,the detection rates of blood flow signals around tumors were 88.89%(32/36)and 78.83%(29/37),respectively;there was no significant difference between them (P=0.343).The display rates of central blood flow of the tumors were 33.33%(12/36)and 94.59% (35/37),respectively;the detection rates of that of perforating branches were 5.56%(2/36)and 62.16% (23/37);andⅥvalues were 4.56±0.92 and 18.98±1.87,respectively;there were significant differ- ences in these parameters between the 2 groups(P＜0.01).Conclusions 3-D ultrasound and color Doppler uhrasonography provide more information such as the shape,distribution of blood flow,the ratio of color blood flow signal volume to tumoral volume of the tumors,therefore it is valuable for the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant tumors of the liver.