In vivo proton MR spectroscopic and pathologic findings in hepatic tumors / 中华放射学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the value ofin vivo proton MR spectroscopy(1H-MRS)in the assessment of large focal hepatic tumors.Methods Fifty-three consecutive patients with 54 large(no less than 4 cm in dimneter)hepatic tumors and 19 normal volunteers wereincluded in this study.MRS of the 25 HCC confirmed by pathological examination,the choline-to-lipid mtios(Cho/Lip)were measured by dividing the peak area of choline at 3.2 ppm and lipid at 1.3 ppm.Differences in the ratios of normal liver,benign tumors and HCC were analyzed by Dunnett-t test.The sensitivity and specificity prof'des of 1H-MRS in the diagnosis of HCC were determined by plotting receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curves.Results The mean Cho/Lip ratios for normal liver(n=17),benign tumor(n=8),and HCC(n=25)were 0.07±0.04,0.11 ±0.06 and 0.55±0.17,respectively(F=6.58,P＜0.05).A significant statistical difference was found in the mean Cho/Lip ratios between HCC and benign liver tumors or normal liver(t=2.99,2.32;P＜0.05).But there wag no difference between benign hepatic tumors and norlnal liver(t=1.53,P＞0.05).The ROC curve showed proton MRS had moderate discriminating ability in diagnosing HCC.The area under the curve was 0.77. If 0.1 was chosen ns the cut-off value for diagnosing HCC with MRS,the sensitivity and specificity for HCC were 80.0%and 62.59b,respectively.Conclusion In vivo proton MRS is technically feasible for the evaluation of focal hepatic lesions,and may be useful in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of HCC by providing metabolic ifformafion.