ABSTRACT
ObjectiveTo investigate the prognostic value of the enhancement pattern in arterial phase of preoperative Gd-EOB-DTPA enhanced magnetic resonance imaging （MRI） in evaluating the disease-free survival （DFS） and overall survival （OS） in patients undergoing curative resection for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma （ICC）. MethodsA retrospective analysis was done on the clinical， preoperative MRI findings and postoperative follow-up results of 93 pathologically confirmed ICC patients undergoing surgery in our hospital between January 2018 and December 2021. Kaplan-Meier survival curves and log-rank test were used to compare the DFS and OS of three groups with different arterial enhancement patterns. Cox regression analysis was used to identify the factors affecting DFS and OS. ResultsThere were significant differences in DFS and OS among the 3 groups （log-rank test， P < 0.05）. The arterial enhancement pattern was an independent predictive factor for DFS （using diffuse hyperenhancement as a reference， peripheral rim enhancement： HR = 3.550； 95%CI： 1.16 ~ 10.8； P = 0.026；diffuse hypoenhancement： HR = 3.430； 95%CI： 1.04 ~ 11.3； P = 0.042）. The arterial enhancement pattern and tumor location were predictive factors for OS （（using diffuse hyperenhancement as a reference， diffuse hypoenhancement， HR = 8.500； 95%CI： 1.09-66.3； P = 0.041； using tumor distal location as a reference， tumor perihilar location HR=2.583，95%CI： 1.14-5.83， P =0.022）. The AUC of arterial enhancement patterns in predicting 1-， 2-， and 3- year DFS were 0.722， 0.748， and 0.617， respectively； in OS， 0.720， 0.704， and 0.730， respectively， which showed better prognostic efficacy than AJCC-TNM staging system. ConclusionArterial-phase enhancement pattern of preoperative Gd-EOB-DTPA enhanced MRI is an independent predictive factor for DFS and OS of ICC patients， with a better prognostic value than AJCC-TNM staging system， and can be used for the clinical management of ICC patients.