Quantitative evaluation of real time contrast-enhanced ultrasonography in examination of normal liver perfusion.

Objective To evaluate the feasibility of real time contrast-enhanced ultrasonography(CEUS) in quantitative analysis of perfusion in normal liver.Methods Twenty-nine healthy volunteers were included in this study,real time contrast-enhanced imaging of blood perfusion in liver was successively examined,and time-intensity curves(TIC) were drawn at interested regions of liver parenchyma by using QLAB analyzing soft ware.Some quantitative parameters were obtained,including peak intensity of arterial perfusion(Ia),peak intensity of total perfusion(Ipeak),intensity of portal venous perfusion(Ip),the ratio of arterial perfusion and total perfusion(Ia/Ipeak),the ratio of arterial perfusion and portal venous perfusion(Ia/Ip),arrival time to the peak of arterial perfusion(Ta),arrival time to the peak of total perfusion(Tpeak),and lasting time of portal venous perfusion(Tp).All quantitative data were compared among different regions of interest(ROIs).Results CEUS showed clear imaging of perfusion in liver parenchyma.In comparison with different ROIs,there was no statistical difference among all these quantitative parameters of Ta、Tpeak、Ia、Ipeak、Ia/Ipeak and Ia/Ip respectively(P 0.05).Conclusion CEUS can precisely display the quantitative perfusion of liver parenchyma.Perfusion data of different ROIs have good compatibility.