Diagnosing Small Hepatic Cysts on Multidetector CT: an Additional Merit of Thinner Coronal Reformations.
10.3348/kjr.2011.12.3.341
- Author:
Sung Ho HWANG
1
;
Jeong Sik YU
;
Jae Joon CHUNG
;
Joo Hee KIM
;
Ki Whang KIM
Author Information
1. Department of Radiology and the Research Institute of Radiological Science, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Gangnam Severance Hospital, Seoul 135-720, Korea. yjsrad97@yuhs.ac
- Publication Type:Original Article ; Validation Studies
- Keywords:
Multidetector CT (MDCT);
Hepatic cyst;
Hounsfield units (HUs);
Sectional thickness;
Partial volume effect
- MeSH:
Adult;
Analysis of Variance;
Contrast Media/diagnostic use;
Cysts/*radiography;
Female;
Gadolinium DTPA/diagnostic use;
Humans;
Iohexol/analogs & derivatives/diagnostic use;
Liver Diseases/*radiography;
Magnetic Resonance Imaging/methods;
Male;
Middle Aged;
Radiographic Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted/*methods;
Tomography, X-Ray Computed/*methods
- From:Korean Journal of Radiology
2011;12(3):341-350
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
OBJECTIVE: We wanted to validate the additional merit of the thinner coronal reformation images from multidetector CT (MDCT) for making the diagnosis of hepatic cysts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For the 90 benign hepatic cysts confirmed on MRI, the transverse (5-mm thickness) and additional coronal (2-mm thickness) reformation images from MDCT were compared with each other in terms of the Hounsfield units (HUs) and the size of each hepatic cyst. RESULTS: The attenuations (mean: 17.2 HUs, standard deviation: +/- 14.4) on the thinner coronal images were significantly lower than those (mean: 40.7 HUs; standard deviation: +/- 20.6) on the thicker transverse images for the small hepatic cysts (< or = 10 mm on the transverse image, p < 0.01). Twenty-three (79%) of the 29 cysts between 5 mm and 10 mm and 21 (51%) of 41 lesions up to 5 mm showed a mean HU value of 20 or less on the coronal reformation images. CONCLUSION: By reducing the partial volume effect, routine coronal reformation of MDCT with a thinner section thickness can provide another merit for making a confidential diagnosis of many small sub-centimeter hepatic cysts, and these small cysts are not easily characterized on the conventional transverse images.
