Application of contrast-enhanced ultrasound and enhanced CT in diagnosis of liver cancer and evaluation of radiofrequency ablation

This study investigated the application effect of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and enhanced CT in diagnosis of liver cancer and response evaluation of radiofrequency ablation (RFA). A total of 60 patients with liver cancer were selected in Dongying People's Hospital from April 2016 to May 2017. All patients were subjected to CEUS and enhanced CT. With pathological examination as the gold standard, diagnostic consistency of the two methods was compared. After RFA, patients were subjected to CEUS and enhanced CT to assess the efficacy, and the consistency was compared. There was no significant difference in diagnostic accuracy between CEUS and CT (p>0.05). Area under the ROC curve of CEUS was 0.896, with a sensitivity of 91.2% and a specificity of 88.7%. The area under the ROC curve for enhanced CT diagnosis was 0.907, with a sensitivity of 91.8% and a specificity of 89.7%. No significant difference in the maximal cross sectional area of lesions was found between CEUS and enhanced CT, and there was no significant difference in evaluation of therapeutic efficiency between the methods (p>0.05) before and 1 and 3 months after treatment. Bland-Altman test showed that there was a strong consistency between CEUS and enhanced CT in the measured maximum cross-sectional area of lesions at 1 and 3 months after treatment. Linear regression analysis showed that maximum section cross-sectional area measured by CEUS was significantly correlated with that detected by enhanced CT (r(2)=0.617). The results suggested that diagnostic efficiency of CEUS was similar to that of enhanced CT, and both showed high sensitivity and specificity. Two methods showed high consistency in evaluating the curative effect of RFA. CEUS can achieve real-time observation of focal blood flow perfusion, and was more economically affordable and convenient.