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CT and MRI findings in focal eosinophilic infiltration of the liver

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Abstract

Objectives

To investigate the findings of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of focal eosinophilic infiltration (FEI) of the liver.

Methods

A retrospective study including 29 patients with confirmed FEI of the liver was performed. We evaluated the lesions’ number, distribution, size, shape, margin, attenuation or signal intensity characteristics, the enhancement pattern, and some special features. Spearman correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between the number of lesions and the eosinophil counts in peripheral blood.

Results

In all, 108 lesions were detected in 29 cases, including two cases with single lesion and the remaining 27 cases with multiple lesions. The mean size of all lesions was 34 mm (range, from 3 to 61 mm). 95 (88%) lesions were located in subcapsular parenchyma or surrounding the portal vein. Most (66%) subcapsular lesions were wedge shaped and all lesions surrounding portal vein were round shaped. However, the hepatic parenchymal lesions were irregular or round shaped. All lesions showed ill-defined margins. On pre-contrast CT images, the lesions showed slightly low attenuation or iso-attenuating. On T1-weighted and T2-weighted images, the lesions were slightly iso-/hypointense and hyperintense, respectively. A total of 23 (79.3%) cases were gradually enhanced. Branches of portal vein went through the lesions in all cases; 12 had ‘stripe sign’ and 16 had ‘halo ring sign.’ Spearman analysis indicated a significant correlation between the number of lesions and the increased eosinophils in peripheral blood (r = 0.627, p = 0.0003).

Conclusions

Special CT and MRI features and increased eosinophils may strongly suggest the diagnosis of FEI of the liver.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by Grants from The National Scientific Foundation of China (81571664), The Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province, (2014A020212244, 2016A020216020), The Commission on Innovation and Technology of Guangdong Province (201605110912158), and The Clinical Research Foundation of Guangdong General Hospital (2015zh04).

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Author notes

  1. Bao-liang Guo and Qiu-gen Hu contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, The First People’s Hospital of Shunde, Foshan, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China

    Bao-liang Guo, Qiu-gen Hu & Fu-sheng Ouyang

  2. Medical Imaging Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China

    Bin Zhang & Shui-xing Zhang

  3. Institute of Molecular and Functional Imaging, Jinan University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China

    Bin Zhang & Shui-xing Zhang

  4. Department of Radiology, Guangdong General Hospital/Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China

    Yu-hao Dong, Xiao-ning Luo & Zhou-yang Lian

Authors
  1. Bao-liang Guo
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  2. Qiu-gen Hu
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  3. Fu-sheng Ouyang
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  4. Bin Zhang
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  5. Yu-hao Dong
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  6. Xiao-ning Luo
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  7. Zhou-yang Lian
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  8. Shui-xing Zhang
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Zhou-yang Lian or Shui-xing Zhang.

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Guo, Bl., Hu, Qg., Ouyang, Fs. et al. CT and MRI findings in focal eosinophilic infiltration of the liver. Abdom Radiol 42, 2874–2881 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00261-017-1230-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00261-017-1230-4

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