Department of Diagnostic Ultrasound, Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410013, China.
Hepatobiliary Pancreat Dis Int. 2010 Dec;9(6):605-10.
Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) is an important technique for depiction and assessment of tumor vascularity. This study aimed to explore the relationship between the morphological characteristics of tumor microvessels and enhancement patterns on CEUS in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Eighty patients with HCC underwent CEUS using SonoVue before hepatectomy. Contrast-enhanced ultrasonographic enhancement patterns and quantitative parameters were recorded. The tumor tissue sections were immunostained with human CD34 monoclonal antibody. The patients were classified into a point-line type group (n = 36) and a loop-strip type group (n = 44) according to microvessel morphology. The microvascular density (MVD) in the different types of microvessels was calculated. The relationship between enhancement patterns of HCC lesions and morphological characteristics of tumor microvessels was analyzed.
The mean MVD in HCC was 22.4+/-3.5 per 0.2 mm2 in the point-line group, and 19.6+/-6.7 per 0.2 mm2 in the loop-strip group, and there was no significant difference between them (t = 0.948, P = 0.354). In the portal vein phase, hypoenhancement was significantly more frequent in HCC (X2 = 4.789, P = 0.029) in the loop-strip group (40/44, 90.9%) than in the point-line group (26/36, 72.2%). The time to hypo-enhancement in the loop-strip group (mean 64.84+/-26.16 seconds) was shorter than that in the point-line group (mean 78.39+/-28.72 seconds) (t = 2.247, P = 0.022). The time to hypo-enhancement was correlated with MVD in the loop-strip group (r = -0.648, P = 0.001).
The enhancement patterns on CEUS are related to tumor microvascular morphology, and the type of microvascular morphology influences CEUS characterization. CEUS, an important noninvasive imaging technique, is used to evaluate microvascular morphology and angiogenesis, providing valuable information for antiangiogenic therapy in HCC.
超声造影（CEUS）是描述和评估肿瘤血管生成的重要技术。本研究旨在探讨肝细胞癌（HCC）肿瘤微血管形态学特征与 CEUS 增强模式之间的关系。
80 例 HCC 患者于肝切除术前接受 SonoVue 超声造影检查。记录对比增强超声增强模式和定量参数。用抗人 CD34 单克隆抗体对肿瘤组织切片进行免疫组化染色。根据微血管形态将患者分为点线型组（n = 36）和环带型组（n = 44）。计算不同类型微血管的微血管密度（MVD）。分析 HCC 病变的增强模式与肿瘤微血管形态学特征之间的关系。
点线组 HCC 的平均 MVD 为 22.4±3.5 条/0.2mm2，环带组为 19.6±6.7 条/0.2mm2，两组间无显著性差异（t = 0.948，P = 0.354）。门静脉期，环带组 HCC （X2 = 4.789，P = 0.029）低增强的发生率明显高于点线组（40/44，90.9%）（26/36，72.2%）。环带组的低增强时间（平均 64.84±26.16 秒）短于点线组（平均 78.39±28.72 秒）（t = 2.247，P = 0.022）。环带组低增强时间与 MVD 呈负相关（r = -0.648，P = 0.001）。
CEUS 的增强模式与肿瘤微血管形态学有关，微血管形态学类型影响 CEUS 特征。CEUS 作为一种重要的非侵入性成像技术，用于评估微血管形态和血管生成，为 HCC 的抗血管生成治疗提供有价值的信息。
