Objective:

To explore the value of extracellular volume fraction (fECV) in assessing the degree of differentiation of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods:

A total of 41 patients with HCC diagnosed by surgical pathology and routine liver multi-phase dynamic contrast-enhanced CT scan were enrolled in Liaoning Cancer Hospital Institute. The absolute enhancement values of the liver tumor (Etumor) and the aorta (Eaorta) were c

alculated by the plain and equilibration period (after injection of the contrast agent for 140 s)

and then we calculated the fECV values by the following formula: fECV(%)=Etumor/Eaorta［100-Hct (%)］. According to the Edmondson-Steiner classification of HCC

the lower grade group (grade Ⅰ and Ⅱ) and the higher grade group (grade Ⅲ and Ⅳ) were compared. We explored whether the difference of fECV value between the two groups was statistically significant.

Results:

The fECV value of the tumor in lower grade group was (30.617.84)%

and that in the higher grade group was (21.136.17)%. The fECV values of the HCC in the lower grade group and the higher grade group were statistically significant (

P

＜0.01)

and the area under curve (AUC) of the fECV value for evaluating the differentiation of HCC was 0.869 (95% CI: 0.759~0.979); the diagnostic boundary value of the lower grade group and the higher grade group was 28.56%. The sensitivity was 71% and the specificity was 90%.

Conclusion:

Extracellular volume fraction can be used as an indicator for non-invasive assessment of HCC differentiation by liver multi-phase dynamic contrast-enhanced CT examination.