Differential diagnosis of small hepatocellular carcinoma and adenomatous hyperplasia with power Doppler sonography.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to compare the ability of power Doppler sonography and color Doppler sonography to differentiate hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) from adenomatous hyperplasia (AH).

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

In 48 patients with cirrhosis of the liver, color Doppler sonography and power Doppler sonography were performed on 53 hepatic nodules smaller than 20 mm in diameter (32 nodules were HCC; 21 nodules were AH). We evaluated the detectability of the pulsatile and continuous flows in the nodules at each hepatic segment.

RESULTS

Thirty-four percent of nodules produced color signal on color Doppler sonography; 77%, on power Doppler sonography (p < .01). The identification rate of nodules in the left lateral segment was significantly lower than in other segments. Continuous flow was seen in the nodules of both HCC and AH. However, only in HCC did we see pulsatile flow. For HCC, pulsatile flow was seen with color Doppler sonography in 25% of the nodules smaller than 10 mm in diameter and in 50% of the nodules between 10 and 20 mm. With power Doppler sonography, pulsatile flow was seen in 67% (p < .05) of the nodules smaller than 10 mm and in 90% (p < .01) of the nodules between 10 and 20 mm. Sensitivity and negative predictive value in the differentiation of HCC from AH were significantly higher with power Doppler sonography than with color Doppler sonography (81% versus 41%, respectively, for sensitivity and 78% versus 53%, respectively, for negative predictive value). Specificity, positive predictive value, and efficacy of both color Doppler sonography and power Doppler sonography were 100%, 100%, 60%, respectively.

CONCLUSION

On the basis of our results, power Doppler sonography is more sensitive than color Doppler sonography in revealing small HCC and in differentiating HCC from AH under physiologic hemodynamic conditions.