Non-enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging as a Surveillance Tool for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Comparison with Ultrasound

Recently revised international guidelines for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) suggest that selected patients with inadequate surveillance ultrasonography to be assessed by alternative imaging modalities such as computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MRI with contrast material has drawbacks associated with the use of gadolinium contrast agent. Non-enhanced MRI consisted of diffusion-weighted imaging and T2-weighted imaging showed significantly better performance than ultrasonography as a surveillance tool for HCC in a high-risk prospective cohort. The estimated scan time of non-enhanced MRI was less than 6 minutes. Given the high performance, short scan time, and the lack of contrast agent-associated risks, non-enhanced MRI has potential to be an option for surveillance of HCC in high-risk patients.

Source: Journal of Hepatology - December 9, 2019 Category: Gastroenterology Authors: Hyo Jung Park, Hye Young Jang, So Yeon Kim, So Jung Lee, Hyung Jin Won, Jae Ho Byun, Sang Hyun Choi, Seung Soo Lee, Jihyun An, Young-Suk Lim Source Type: research