Diagnostic confidence of computed tomography and magnetic resonance in focal liver pathology. Issue 1 (January 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Saba, Luca; di Martino, Michele; de Cecco, Carlo N.; Catalano, Carlo; Piga, Mario
• Is Part Of: European journal of gastroenterology & hepatology. Volume 27:Issue 1(2015:Jan.)
• Publication Date: 2015-01
• Subjects: Digestive organs -- Diseases -- Periodicals; Liver -- Diseases -- Periodicals; Digestive organs -- Diseases; Liver -- Diseases; Periodicals; 616.33
• DOI: 10.1097/MEG.0000000000000231
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0954-691X

Abstract

<abstract> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <sec> <title>Purpose</title> <p>The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the diagnostic confidence of multiphase computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) after administration of gadolinium–ethoxybenzyl–diethylenetriamine penta-acetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA) in the diagnosis of malignant–benign neoplasm of the liver in operators with different levels of experience.</p> </sec> <sec> <title>Materials and methods</title> <p>Forty patients underwent multiphase CT and MR after administration of Gd-EOB-DTPA. All exams were evaluated by two experienced observers independently; they rated their diagnostic confidence on a five-degree scale: 1 (certainly benign), 2 (probably benign), 3 (uncertain), 4 (probably malignant) and 5 (certainly malignant). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis and area under the curve (AUC) were carried out for each observer and their difference was tested according to the different methodologies used.</p> </sec> <sec> <title>Results</title> <p>In our population, there were 15 malignant neoplasms and 25 benign neoplasms. For the CT analysis, AUC was 0.792 [SE=0.088; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.634–0.903] and 0.701 (SE=0.099; 95% CI 0.535–0.835) for observers 1 and 2, respectively, whereas for the MR analysis, AUC was 0.923 (SE=0.058; 95% CI 0.793–0.983) and 0.934 (SE=0.054; 95% CI 0.808–0.987). For both observers, a statistically significant difference was found in diagnostic confidence between the AUC of CT and MR (<italic>P</italic><0.05).</p> </sec> <sec> <title>Conclusion</title> <p>Our results indicate that, for expert and intermediate experience observers, the diagnostic confidence using MR with Gd-EOB-DTPA is statistically significantly superior to CT with a multiphase technique.</p> </sec> </abstract>