Enhanced diagnostic accuracy of contrast-enhanced ultrasound in liver space-occupying lesions: superior sensitivity and specificity over conventional ultrasound.

Abstract

Aims: To evaluate the clinical value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in diagnosing liver space-occupying lesions.

Methods: A total of 487 patients with liver space-occupying lesions were examined using both conventional ultrasound and CEUS. The diagnostic results from the two methods were compared, with pathological findings used as the gold standard. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve were calculated for each method to assess their diagnostic value.

Results: Among the 487 lesions, 220 were malignant and 267 were benign. The relative blood flow (rBF) in the arterial phase of malignant lesions was significantly higher than that of benign lesions, while the rBF in the delayed phase was significantly lower (P<0.05). In diagnosing malignant lesions, CEUS had a higher detection rate than conventional ultrasound (75% vs. 43.18%, P<0.001). CEUS also demonstrated a higher diagnostic agreement for lesions ≤1 cm compared to conventional ultrasound (85.16% vs. 49.47%, P<0.001). The accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of CEUS were all higher than those of conventional ultrasound (all P<0.05).

Conclusion: CEUS is effective in diagnosing liver space-occupying lesions, with superior sensitivity and specificity compared to conventional ultrasound.