Clinical Usefulness of contrast-enhanced ultrasound for percutaneous biopsies of focal liver lesions

Purpose To determine the value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) for fusion–guided, percutaneous biopsies of focal liver lesions. Materials and Methods Eighty patients with focal liver lesions identified on CT/MRI were enrolled. For percutaneous US guided biopsy planning, real-time fusion of CT/MRI with USG was performed, and subsequently CEUS was performed using sulphur hexafluoride microbubble (SonoVue, n = 40) and perfluorobutane-containing microbubble (Sonazoid, n = 40). We evaluated visibility and technical feasibility confidence level. Technical failure and occurrence of change of the target were also assessed. Results Among the 80 patients, four were technical failure for image fusion and one were technical failure for CEUS. Confirmative histologic diagnostic results were reported in 72 patients (90%) and the remaining patients were also helpful for making the final diagnosis using pathology results. Targeted lesion was changed in 22 patients (27.5%) on CEUS. As the lesion is necrotic, presumed target was more frequently changed after CEUS. Confidence level of technical success of procedure was significantly increased on CEUS comparison with B-US (p Conclusion CEUS would be helpful for planning of hepatic biopsy in terms of tumor visibility and viable portion assessment, and consequently higher operator confidence, compared with B-US.