Ferucarbotran-enhanced MRI versus triple-phase MDCT for the preoperative detection of hepatocellular carcinoma

OBJECTIVE. We compared ferucarbotran-enhanced MRI with triple-phase MDCT for the preoperative detection of hepatocellular carcinoma. SUBJECTS AND METHODS. Seventy-three consecutive patients with 121 hepatocellular carcinomas underwent ferucarbotran-enhanced MRI, including a dynamic study, and triple-phase MDCT before hepatic resection. The diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma was confirmed in all patients by means of pathologic examination after surgical resection. Three experienced radiologists independently reviewed the MR and CT images on a segment-by-segment basis. The accuracy of these techniques for the detection of hepatocellular carcinoma was assessed by conducting a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis of the observations of 88 resected hepatic segments with at least one hepatocellular carcinoma each and 121 resected hepatic segments without hepatocellular carcinoma. RESULTS. The mean values of the area under the ROC curve (A(z)) for ferucarbotran-enhanced MRI and triple-phase MDCT for all observers were 0.947 and 0.949, respectively; the difference between these two values was not statistically significant (p = 0.799). The mean sensitivities of MRI and triple-phase MDCT were 90.2% and 91.3%, respectively, and their mean specificities were 97.0% and 95.3%, respectively. The differences in the mean sensitivities and specificities of these two imaging techniques were not statistically significant (p > 0.05 in each case). CONCLUSION. Ferucarbotran-enhanced MRI seems to be as accurate as triple-phase MDCT for the preoperative detection of hepatocellular carcinoma.