Affiliations: [a] Department of Ultrasound, Shanghai Institute of Medical Imaging, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| [b] Department of Ultrasound, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| [c] Department of Pathology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| [d] School of Computer Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
Correspondence:
[*]
Corresponding author: Hong Ding, MD, PhD, Department of Ultrasound, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, No. 12
Middle Urumqi Road, Shanghai 200040, China. Tel.: +86 136 5188 6013; E-mail: ding_hong@fudan.edu.cn. Feng Lin,
Professor, School of Computer Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore.
E-mail: ASFLIN@ntu.edu.sg.
Note: [1] This article received a correction notice (Erratum) with the reference: 10.3233/CH-219901, available at https://content.iospress.com/articles/clinical-hemorheology-and-microcirculation/ch219901.
Abstract: BACKGROUND:Fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma (FLHCC) is an unusual variant of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Revealing the imaging features is important to the diagnosis of FLHCC. OBJECTIVE:The aim of this study was to investigate the imaging characteristics of FLHCCs. METHODS:This retrospective study included 29 patients with histopathologically proved FLHCC and 96 patients proved HCC. All patients underwent an ultrasound examination pre-operation. RESULTS:The average maximum diameters of the FLHCC and HCC lesions were 7.4±4.1 cm and 4.1±3.0 cm, respectively. On the ultrasound, 79.3% of the FLHCCs and 12.3% of the HCCs showed the internal hyperechoic area; 48.3% of the FLHCCs and 3.3% of the HCCs displayed a strip-like attenuation. Calcification was noted in 20.7% of the FLHCCs, while none in HCCs. On the contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS), all FLHCC lesions and 87.7% of the HCCs displayed hyperenhancement in the arterial phase. An internal, unenhanced central scar appeared in all FLHCCs, while none in HCCs. CONCLUSIONS:The ultrasonographic features of FLHCC lesions indicate that they are relatively large masses showing the internal hyperechoic area or strip-like attenuation or calcification on the US and hypervascularity with an unenhanced central scar on the CEUS as compared with conventional HCC lesions.
