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LI-RADS: a glimpse into the future

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Abstract

This article provides a glimpse into the future of the Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS), discussing the immediate and long-term plans for its continuing improvement and expansion. To complement the Core and Essentials components of the latest version of LI-RADS, a comprehensive manual will be released soon, and it will include technical recommendations, management guidance, as well as reporting instructions and templates. In this article, we briefly review the process by which LI-RADS has been developed until now, a process guided by a variable combination of data, expert opinion, and desire for congruency with other diagnostic systems in North America. We then look forward, envisioning that forthcoming updates to LI-RADS will occur regularly every 3 to 5 years, driven by emerging high-quality scientific evidence. We highlight some of the key knowledge and technology gaps that will need to be addressed to enable the needed refinements. We also anticipate future expansions in scope to meet currently unaddressed clinical needs. Finally, we articulate a vision for eventual unification of imaging system for HCC screening and surveillance, diagnosis and staging, and treatment response assessment.

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Abbreviations

AASLD:

American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases

CEUS:

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound

CT:

Computed tomography

ECA:

Extracellular agents

ICC:

Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma

HBA:

Hepatobiliary agents

HCC:

Hepatocellular carcinoma

LI-RADS:

Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System

MRI:

Magnetic resonance imaging

OPTN:

Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Liver Imaging Group, Department of Radiology, University of California – San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA

    Claude B. Sirlin

  2. University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Ania Z. Kielar

  3. University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Ania Z. Kielar

  4. Department of Radiology, Radio-oncology and Nuclear Medicine, Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM), Montreal, QC, Canada

    An Tang

  5. Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CRCHUM), Montreal, QC, Canada

    An Tang

  6. Department of Radiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, 27710, USA

    Mustafa R Bashir

  7. Center for Advanced Magnetic Resonance Development, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, 27710, USA

    Mustafa R Bashir

Authors
  1. Claude B. Sirlin
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  2. Ania Z. Kielar
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  3. An Tang
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  4. Mustafa R Bashir
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Claude B. Sirlin.

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Sirlin, C.B., Kielar, A.Z., Tang, A. et al. LI-RADS: a glimpse into the future. Abdom Radiol 43, 231–236 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00261-017-1448-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00261-017-1448-1

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