Is Shear Viscosity a Sign for Malignancy in Liver Tumours?

Jean Luc Daire¹, Ralph Sinkus², Mathilde Wagner¹, Nathalie Haddad¹, Valerie Vilgrain¹, Bernard van Beers¹

Liver tumours are very frequent. They include benign lesions and malignant primary or secondary tumours (metastases). Currently, there is no established non-invasive imaging Goldstandard available in order to characterize malignancy for liver tumours. Very often, the enhancement characteristics of a bolus are used in order to differentiate benign from malignant tumours. Here, we intend to prospectively evaluate the complex shear modulus as measured via MR-elastography in the assessment of malignancy or benignity of liver lesions and compare its performance to those of three enhancement characteristics of the bolus passage.