Abstract

The purpose of this study is to predict preoperatively microvascular invasion (MVI) of solitary small hepatocellular cancer (sHCC) by using the kinetic parameters analysis on dynamic enhancement magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Patients (n = 61) with known solitary sHCC(≤3cm) were preoperatively examined with Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI first before hepatic resection. The arterial peritumoral enhancement measured from the dynamic enhancement-MRI was analyzed by using quantitative kinetic parameters, including initial enhancement (E1), peak enhancement (E''peak''), and enhancement ratio (E''R'') calculated. Correlations between quantitative kinetic parameters and MVI were evaluated and differences between MVI positive and negative groups were assessed. Histopathological analysis of liver resection confirmed that 19 patients had sHCC with MVI and that 42 patients had sHCC without MVI. Average (± standard deviation) E1 is 0.36±0.12 and 0.46±0.09, E''peak'' is 0.78±0.24 and 0.74±0.18, and E''R'' is 0.42±0.20 and 0.56±0.17 for negative and positive group, respectively. Statistical analysis showed that average E1 and ER for the positive group were significantly higher (p less than 0.05) than the negative group. The receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis between the two groups had area under the curve of 0.74 and 0.71 for E1 and E''R'', respectively. Quantitative kinetic parameters analysis for the arterial peritumoral enhancement is feasibility to the prediction and assist diagnosis of MVI in clinical practice.