Diagnostic value and characterization of contrast enhanced ultrasound for hepatic giant hemangionmas

Objective To explore the enhancement pattern and characterization of hepatic hemangionmas with contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS). Methods A total of 44 patients with 49 nodules preliminary diagnosed of liver hemangioma were included in this study. For each nodule, the enhancement pattern, level, and dynamic change of CEUS were evaluated, and the features of hemangionmas were groups as echoic and compared with those on CEUS. Results All hemangiomas enhanced in arterial phase with centripetal progression in venous and late phase on CEUS, among which 41 lesions showed peripheral nodular enhancement while 8 showed peripheral rim-like enhancement. The whole-tumor enhancement pattern was seen in 13 lesions and part-tumor enhancement was shown in 36 lesions. The performance of part-tumor was independent of tumor echoic and hypoechoic tumors mostly presented to be whole-tumor enhancement pattern. During portal venous and late phase, 42 lesions showed hyperenhancement, while 7 lesions showed isoenhancement. Conclusions CEUS can suggest the enhancement dynamic characters of hepatic giant hemangionmas and reveals the relationship of grey-scale echoic and enhancement pattern of hemangiomas. It is important to diagnosethe hepatic giant hemangionmas for CEUS. Key words: Ultrasonography; Microbubbles; Liver neoplasms; Hemangioma