Chansik An1, Mi-Suk Park1, Myeong-Jin Kim1, Yeo-Eun Kim1, Woo-Suk Chung1, Hyae Min Jeon2, Ki-Whang Kim1
1Diagnostic radiology, Yonsei University Health System, Seoul, Korea, Republic of; 2Pathology, Yonsei University Health System, Seoul, Korea, Republic of
The combination of signal intensities on diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and dynamic subtraction imaging shows a linear association with histopathologic grade of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The more the positive findings shown by an HCC lesion (arterial enhancement on subtraction imaging and restricted diffusion on DWI), the higher the grade (p < .001). In predicting well-differentiated HCC, the positive predictive value is higher when the findings on DWI and subtraction imaging are considered together (100%, when a lesion shows no arterial enhancement and no restricted diffusion) than when they are considered separately (81%, no arterial enhancement; 74%, no restricted diffusion).