Enhancement patterns in the venous phase of contrast-enhanced ultrasounds: diagnostic value for patients with solid pancreatic lesions.

BACKGROUND

To observe and assess the diagnostic value of the venous phase enhancement patterns of contrast-enhanced ultrasounds (CEUS) in patients with solid pancreatic lesions that show iso- to hyperenhancement in the arterial phase of the CEUS.

METHODS

Patients who underwent CEUS for pancreatic lesions in the Peking Union Medical College Hospital between April 2017 and August 2019 were identified from the dynamic CEUS imaging database in the hospital. A total of 57 patients with pathologically or clinically diagnosed pancreatic lesions were retrospectively included in this study, and the CEUS images from these patients were evaluated. The enhancement patterns in each phase were analyzed, and each lesion was classified as malignant or benign using a five-point scale of confidence based on morphology, boundary, vascular invasion, blood flow, and enhancement patterns in ultrasound (US) and CEUS images.

RESULTS

Rapid washout in the venous phase of CEUS images was detected in 30 malignant lesions and 4 benign lesions with malignant potential. The specificity for determining malignancy was 77.8%. Continuous isoenhancement with normal pancreatic tissues in the venous phase achieved a high specificity of 95.0% for determining benign lesions. Early hyperenhancement in the arterial phase followed by slow washout in the venous phase showed high specificity of 98.1% for determining metastasis. The diagnostic confidence improved after reviewing CEUS scans (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.737 for baseline US and 0.910 for CEUS; P=0.056).

CONCLUSIONS

Enhancement patterns in the venous phase of CEUS images were beneficial in the differential diagnosis of solid pancreatic lesions with iso- to hyperenhancement in the arterial phase on CEUS.