[Diagnostic value of 99mTc-PMT delayed hepatobiliary imaging in small hepatocellular carcinoma--an analysis of 62 cases].

99mTc-PMT delayed hepatobiliary imaging was performed preoperatively in 62 patients with small hepatocellular carcinoma. All patients received operation and had pathological proof. All these tumors were smaller than 5 cm in size. Liver scan was done 5 min, 2 and 5 hr after administration of radiopharmaceutics. The sensitivity was 33.3% (2/6), 41.2% (7/17), 60.0% (9/15) and 54.2% (13/24) in tumors with sizes of less than or equal to 2 cm, 2-3 cm, 3-4 cm and 4-5 cm groups, respectively. The positive rates in the first two groups were lower than in the last two groups but much higher than those by conventional imaging. The total positive rate was 50.0%. The difference was not significant in comparison with the group of tumor size greater than 5 cm. The smallest mass detectable was only 1.2 cm in diameter. The uptake of radiopharmaceutic was not related to serum AFP level and hepatic cirrhosis (P greater than 0.05). These results show that 99mTc-PMT delayed hepatobiliary imaging may be useful in the diagnosis, particularly in the pathognomonic diagnosis, of small hepatocellular carcinoma.