Jang JY, Kim MY, Jeong SW, Kim TY, Kim SU, Lee SH, Suk KT, Park SY, Woo HY, Kim SG, Heo J, Baik SK, Kim HS, Tak WY. Current consensus and guidelines of contrast enhanced ultrasound for the characterization of focal liver lesions.
Clin Mol Hepatol 2013;
19:1-16. [PMID:
23593604 PMCID:
PMC3622850 DOI:
10.3350/cmh.2013.19.1.1]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2012] [Revised: 03/08/2012] [Accepted: 03/14/2012] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The application of ultrasound contrast agents (UCAs) is considered essential when evaluating focal liver lesions (FLLs) using ultrasonography (US). Microbubble UCAs are easy to use and robust; their use poses no risk of nephrotoxicity and requires no ionizing radiation. The unique features of contrast enhanced US (CEUS) are not only noninvasiveness but also real-time assessing of liver perfusion throughout the vascular phases. The later feature has led to dramatic improvement in the diagnostic accuracy of US for detection and characterization of FLLs as well as the guidance to therapeutic procedures and evaluation of response to treatment. This article describes the current consensus and guidelines for the use of UCAs for the FLLs that are commonly encountered in US. After a brief description of the bases of different CEUS techniques, contrast-enhancement patterns of different types of benign and malignant FLLs and other clinical applications are described and discussed on the basis of our experience and the literature data.
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