Value of resistive index in the diagnosis of liver tumors on ultrasonography

Objective To evaluate the diagnostic value of the resistive index (RI) in Doppler ultrasonography of liver tumors.Methods Nine hundred and thirty six patients with 1 057 hepatic solid lesions were examined by color Doppler flow imaging (CDFI) and pulsed Doppler, including 752 malignant cases with 828 lesions and 184 benign cases with 229 lesions. All of them were confirmed by operation and histopathology.Results The detection rate of arterial blood flow with CDFI or pulsed Doppler was 92% (760/828) in malignant hepatic tumors and 45% (103/229) in benign hepatic tumors. There was a significant difference between malignant and benign tumors (P 0.01 ). The average value of RI in malignant hepatic tumors was much higher than that in benign hepatic tumors (P 0.001 ). If the arterial blood flow was detected in the hepatic solid lesions with CDFI or pulsed Doppler, and RI≥ 0.6 regarded as a criterion of the malignant hepatic tumor, the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy of the ultrasound in the diagnosis of hepatic malignant tumor was 87%(717/828), 92%(211/229) and 88%(928/1057) respectively. Conclusions The parameter of RI in Doppler ultrasonography can be used for the differential diagnosis of liver tumor.