Evaluation of the intratumoral vasculature of hepatocellular carcinoma by power Doppler sonography: advantages and disadvantages versus conventional color Doppler sonography

Abstract

Background: To determine whether a difference exists in the relative ability of power Doppler sonography and conventional color Doppler sonography to detect the intratumoral vasculature of hepatocellular carcinoma based on lesion size and location.

Methods: Sixty patients with 88 hepatocellular carcinoma lesions that showed tumor staining on angiography and were enhanced on dynamic computed tomography were evaluated. Power Doppler sonography and color Doppler sonography were used to detect the intratumoral vasculature, and their sensitivity to blood flow was evaluated.

Results: Power Doppler sonography showed a superior detection rate for lesions smaller than 2 cm and located 4–8 cm from the abdominal surface in the right hepatic lobe as compared with color Doppler sonography (p < 0.01). Neither power Doppler sonography nor color Doppler sonography depicted the intratumoral vasculature of lesions located more than 8 cm from the abdominal surface (n = 14). Both color Doppler imagings exhibited a low detection rate for lesions in the left hepatic lobe (n = 31, p < 0.01).

Conclusions: Power Doppler sonography should be applied in the evaluation of small or intermediate depth lesions because it is more sensitive to these lesions than color Doppler sonography, but it is not useful for left lobe and deep lesions.