Abstract

 The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effect of iodine concentration of contrast material on detection of hepatocellular carcinoma with multi-slice spiral computed tomography (CT) by using double-arterial phase and portal venous phase enhanced scanning. Ninety-four (94) patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were examined by hepatic plain CT and contrast-enhanced CT including early arterial phase (EAP), late arterial phase (LAP) and portal venous phase (PVP) scanning. Patients were randomized into two groups to receive Iopamidol 370 mg /ml (47 patients) and 300 mg /ml (47 patients). The images were interpreted by two experienced radiologists together prospectively. The detection sensitivity for tumors of two size categories (≤2 or >2 cm) and iodine concentration groups were calculated and analyzed. A total of 318 lesions were detected with 86 ≤ 2 cm in size and 232 >2 cm. For EAP and LAP, the sensitivity of Iopamidol 370 mg I/ml group was significantly higher than Iopamidol 300 mg I/ml group for tumors ≤ 2 cm and all tumors. For PVP, there were no significant differences between groups. We concluded that high-iodine-concentration contrast material could improve the detection of HCC for EAP and LAP, especially for tumor ≤ 2 cm.

Key words: Contrast agent, administration and dosage, computed tomography (CT), hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). 

Abbreviation

CT, Computed tomography; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; EAP,early arterial phase; LAP, late arterial phase; PVP, portal venous phase.