Role of contrast-enhanced ultrasound in follow-up assessment after ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma

Table 1 Location of local tumor progression and new intrahepatic recurrence on contrast-enhanced computed tomography and contrast-enhanced ultrasound

Location	Local tumor progression		New intrahepatic recurrence
	CEUS	CECT	CEUS	CECT
S1	0	0	1	2
S2	1	2	14	22
S3	2	2	7	13
S4	8	10	27	38
S5	5	7	17	18
S6	7	5	14	23
S7	3	4	17	18
S8	7	10	25	36
PV	0	0	9	11
HV	0	0	0	2
Total	33	40	131	183

Data show the number of the detected lesions. S: Liver segment; PV: Portal vein; HV: Hepatic vein; CEUS: Contrast-enhanced ultrasound; CECT: Contrast-enhanced computed tomography.

Table 2 Comparison between contrast-enhanced computed tomography and contrast-enhanced ultrasound in detecting local tumor progression after percutaneous ablation therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma during follow-up

CEUS	CECT
	All			< 3 cm			≥3 cm			Single			Multiple
	LTP	LTP-free	Total	LTP	LTP-free	Total	LTP	LTP-free	Total	LTP	LTP-free	Total	LTP	LTP-free	Total
LTP	27	6	33	18	4	22	9	2	11	15	5	20	12	1	13
LTP-free	13	220	233	10	165	175	3	55	58	3	74	76	10	146	156
Total	40	226	266	28	169	197	12	57	69	18	79	97	22	147	169
χ2	125.6			86.7			32.66			48.51			70.79
P value	< 0.001			< 0.001			< 0.001			< 0.001			< 0.001

Data show the numbers of the ablated lesions. LTP: Local tumor progression; CEUS: Contrast-enhanced ultrasound; CECT: Contrast-enhanced computed tomography.

Table 3 Comparison in number of detected new intrahepatic recurrence and lesion between contrast-enhanced computed tomography and contrast-enhanced ultrasound

CEUS	CECT
	Yes	No	Total
New intrahepatic recurrence
Yes	118	13	131
No	65	0	65
Total	183	13	196
Lesion
Yes	73	6	79
No	21	69	90
Total	94	75	169

Data show the numbers of detected new intrahepatic recurrence and lesion on CEUS and CECT. The χ² test with Yates’s correction indicated significant difference in detecting intrahepatic recurrence (χ² = 5.40, P = 0.02) and lesion (χ² = 8.33, P < 0.01) between CEUS and CECT. CEUS: Contrast-enhanced ultrasound; CECT: Contrast-enhanced computed tomography.

Table 4 Number of new intrahepatic recurrence detected by follow-up contrast-enhanced ultrasound and contrast-enhanced computed tomography

CEUS	CECT
N	0	1	2	3	4	5	Total
0	69 (0/0)	13 (0/13)	7 (0/14)	1 (0/3)	0 (0/0)	0 (0/0)	90 (0/30)
1	4 (4/0)	25 (25/25)	9 (9/18)	8 (8/24)	1 (1/4)	0 (0/0)	47 (47/71)
2	2 (4/0)	5 (10/5)	8 (16/16)	3 (6/9)	0 (0/0)	0 (0/0)	18 (36/30)
3	0 (0/0)	0 (0/0)	0 (0/0 )	7 (21/21)	1 (3/4)	1 (3/5)	9 (27/30)
4	0 (0/0)	0 (0/0)	0 (0/0)	0 (0/0)	3 (12/12)	1 (4/5)	4 (16/17)
5	0 (0/0)	0 (0/0)	0 (0/0)	0 (0/0)	0 (0/0)	1 (5/5)	1 (5/5)
Total	75 (8/0)	43 (35/43)	24 (25/48)	19 (35/57)	5 (16/20)	3 (12/15)	169 (131/183)

N represents the number of the detected recurrence in each patient. Data are the numbers of follow-up examinations and data in parenthesis are the numbers of new intrahepatic recurrences (detected on CEUS/CECT). CEUS: Contrast-enhanced ultrasound; CECT: Contrast-enhanced computed tomography.