Fat-containing liver lesions: a pictorial review

A Liver-Derived Vascular Lesion: Hepatic Hemangioma or Hepatic Epithelioid Hemangioendothelioma?

Hepatic epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (EHE) is an uncommon vascular endothelial cell tumor of the liver with numerous symptoms and features. The median affected age is 41, and females are more frequently affected than men. In the following article, a 37-year-old nurse is presented who was referred to the hospital with severe right upper quadrant pain. She had been misdiagnosed with hepatic hemangioma for years, which finally turned out to be hepatic EHE. Liver transplantation has been recognized as the therapeutic method of choice due to the considerable extent of liver involvement and nonresponse to medications.

Imaging of Hepatobiliary Cancer

The liver and biliary tree are common sites of primary and secondary malignancies. MRI followed by CT is the mainstay for the imaging characterization of these malignancies with the dynamically acquired contrast enhanced phases being the most important for diagnosis. The liver imaging reporting and data system classification provides a useful framework for reporting lesions in patents with underlying cirrhosis or who are at high risk for developing hepatocellular carcinoma. Detection of metastases is improved with the use of liver specific MRI contrast agents and diffusion weighted sequences. Aside from hepatocellular carcinoma, which is often diagnosed noninvasively, other primary hepatobiliary tumors may require biopsy for definite diagnosis, especially when presenting with nonclassic imaging findings. In this review, we examine the imaging findings of common and less common hepatobiliary tumors.

Use of the LI-RADS classification in patients with cirrhosis due to infection with hepatitis B, C, or D, or infected with hepatitis B and D

Objective

To evaluate liver lesions, in accordance with the LI-RADS classification, using contrast-enhanced multiphase dynamic computed tomography in patients with hepatitis B, coinfected or not with hepatitis D, or with chronic hepatitis C, as well as to determine the level of agreement between radiologists.

Materials and Methods

We evaluated 38 patients with hepatitis B, coinfected or not with hepatitis D, or with chronic hepatitis C, all of whom underwent contrast-enhanced multiphase dynamic computed tomography. For each examination, two radiologists selected up to three hepatic lesions, categorizing them in accordance with the LI-RADS classification and evaluating signs of chronic liver disease and portal hypertension. To determine the level of agreement between radiologists, we calculated the kappa statistic (κ) .

Results

Radiologist 1 and radiologist 2 selected 56 and 48 liver lesions, respectively. According to radiologist 1 and radiologist 2, respectively, 27 (71%) and 23 (61%) of the 38 patients had at least one liver lesion; 13 (34%) and 12 (32%) had a LI-RADS 5 lesion (κ = 0.821); 19 (50%) and 16 (42%) had a hypervascular lesion (κ = 0.668); and 30 (79%) and 24 (63%) had splenomegaly (κ = 0.503). Both radiologists identified chronic liver disease in 31 (82%) of the patients (κ = 1.00).

Conclusion

Lesions categorized as LI-RADS 5 were detected in approximately 32% of the patients, with almost perfect agreement between the radiologists. The level of agreement was substantial or moderate for the other LI-RADS categories.

Diffusion-weighted imaging and apparent diffusion coefficient values for evaluating terminal ileitis in patients with Crohn's disease

Objective:

To determine the accuracy of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in identifying terminal ileitis in patients with Crohn’s disease.

Materials and Methods:

This was a retrospective study of 38 consecutive patients with Crohn’s disease who underwent magnetic resonance enterography with DWI in a 3.0 T scanner. The patients were divided into two groups, on the basis of colonoscopy and biopsy findings: active inflammation; and inactive disease. Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values were determined, as were the magnetic resonance index of activity (MaRIA) and the Clermont score.

Results:

Of the 38 patients evaluated, 18 (47%) had active inflammation. The patients with active inflammation showed greater restricted diffusion, more pronounced mucosal edema, greater wall thickening, a higher MaRIA, and a higher Clermont score than did those with inactive disease. The level of interobserver agreement (intraclass correlation coefficient) was excellent for the MaRIA and the Clermont score, whereas it was substantial for the ADC values. For identifying colonoscopy-proven inflammation, the best ADC cut-off point was 2.1 × 10⁻³ mm²/s, which had a sensitivity of 88.8% and a specificity of 95.0%, whereas DWI presented an overall accuracy of 89.4%, with a sensitivity of 88.9% and a specificity of 90.0%.

Conclusion:

Visual analysis of the DWI sequence has good accuracy in detecting terminal ileitis in patients with Crohn’s disease. In addition, low ADC values have good sensitivity for detecting colonoscopy-proven inflammation.

Ultrasound evaluation of schistosomiasis-related morbidity among the Xakriabá people in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil

Objective

To use ultrasound to investigate the morbidity related to schistosomiasis in the Xakriabá indigenous population.

Materials and Methods

This was a field-based census study conducted in the territory of the Xakriabá people. A total of 166 individuals were invited, and 148 (≤ 77 years of age) agreed to participate. Most participants underwent abdominal ultrasound, physical examination, and stool examination. Mann-Whitney U and chi-square tests were used for comparisons. We determined risk by calculating odds ratio (OR) and performed logistic regression analysis.

Results

Schistosoma mansoni eggs were found in 31 (26.7%) of the 116 stool samples examined, 22 (70.9%) of the 31 being from individuals 4-16 years of age. The median count was 144 eggs/g of feces (interquartile range, 264). Of the 105 participants examined with ultrasound, 68 (64.8%) had hepatomegaly (left lobe), 6 (5.7%) had splenomegaly, and 4 (3.8%) had portal hypertension. Egg-positive stool samples were more common in those with an enlarged left lobe (OR = 3.4; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.1-11.2; p = 0.043). Periportal fibrosis was found in 30 participants (28.6%), of whom 9 (30%) had pattern C, 10 (33.3%) had pattern D, and 11 (36.7%) had pattern Dc. Age was the only independent risk factor for fibrosis (p = 0.007). Fibrosis was up to nine-fold more common in alcohol drinkers than in nondrinkers (OR = 9.28; 95% CI: 2.60-33.06; p < 0.001). Among the 138 participants in whom the clinical form was classified, the chronic hepatic form was identified in 54 (39.1%), of whom 32 (59.2%) were under 30 years of age and one (1.8%) was hepatosplenic.

Conclusion

Schistosomiasis in the Xakriabá population is characterized by a high frequency of egg-positive stool samples, predominantly in children/adolescents, and by chronic hepatic form in the young, especially among alcohol drinkers.