Diagnosing small hepatic cysts on multidetector CT: an additional merit of thinner coronal reformations.

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Authors: Sung Ho Hwang, MD ; Jeong-Sik Yu, MD ; Jae-Joon Chung, MD ; Joo Hee Kim, MD ; Ki Whang Kim, MD

MeSH: Adult ; Analysis of Variance ; Contrast Media ; Cysts/diagnostic imaging* ; Female ; Gadolinium DTPA ; Humans ; Iohexol/analogs & derivatives ; Liver Diseases/diagnostic imaging* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging/methods ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Radiographic Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted/methods* ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed/methods*

Keywords: Hepatic cyst ; Hounsfield units (HUs) ; Multidetector CT (MDCT) ; Partial volume effect ; Sectional thickness

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: We wanted to validate the additional merit of the thinner coronal reformation images from multidetector CT (MDCT) for making the diagnosis of hepatic cysts.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: For the 90 benign hepatic cysts confirmed on MRI, the transverse (5-mm thickness) and additional coronal (2-mm thickness) reformation images from MDCT were compared with each other in terms of the Hounsfield units (HUs) and the size of each hepatic cyst.

RESULTS: THE ATTENUATIONS (MEAN: 17.2 HUs, standard deviation: ± 14.4) on the thinner coronal images were significantly lower than those (mean: 40.7 HUs; standard deviation: ± 20.6) on the thicker transverse images for the small hepatic cysts (≤ 10 mm on the transverse image, p < 0.01). Twenty-three (79%) of the 29 cysts between 5 mm and 10 mm and 21 (51%) of 41 lesions up to 5 mm showed a mean HU value of 20 or less on the coronal reformation images.

CONCLUSION: By reducing the partial volume effect, routine coronal reformation of MDCT with a thinner section thickness can provide another merit for making a confidential diagnosis of many small sub-centimeter hepatic cysts, and these small cysts are not easily characterized on the conventional transverse images.