Clinical value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound and contrast-enhanced CT in the diagnosis of HBV-infected hepatocellular carcinoma

To explore the diagnostic value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and contrast-enhanced CT (CECT) in hepatitis B virus (HBV)-infected hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). A retrospective collection was conducted to HBV-infected patients who were treated at our hospital from February 2020 to January 2023. The included patients presented with liver space-occupying lesions based on routine examinations. In addition, they received CEUS and CECT examinations within four weeks after the detection of lesions, and subsequent pathological diagnoses were obtained. CEUS was performed using sulfur hexafluoride microbubble contrast agents for real-time vascular imaging, while CECT involved iodinated contrast imaging during arterial, portal, and delayed phases. Statistical analysis included ROC curve construction to assess diagnostic performance. The medical records of 81 patients were included in this study. Among the collected cases, 31 were pathologically diagnosed as HCC, while 50 cases were diagnosed with other benign lesions. The LI-RADS results of both diagnostic methods, CEUS and CECT, were observed and compared against the pathological results, which served as the gold standard. ROC curves were then constructed to evaluate the diagnostic efficiency of CEUS and CECT in detecting HCC. Finally, a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was created to assess the diagnostic performance of joint diagnosis with CEUS and CECT in HCC. The area under the curve (AUC), specificity, and sensitivity of CECT were 0.859, 80.65 %, and 80.00 %, respectively, and those of CEUS were 0.796, 70.97 % and 80.00 %, respectively. The AUC, specificity and sensitivity of joint diagnosis were 0.934, 93.55 % and 80.00 %, respectively. Both CEUS and CECT have high diagnostic value for HCC, each of which has its own advantages. The combination use of these two different imaging techniques significantly improves the diagnostic ability in detecting HCC.