Efficiency of Preoperative 64-Channel Multidetector Computed Tomography in Detection of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Patients Undergoing Liver Transplantation due to Liver Cirrhosis: A Comparison of Radiological and Pathological Findings

Objective: The aim of this study is to demonstrate the efficiency of preoperative 64-channel multidetector computed tomography in detection in detecting hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients who underwent transplantation due to cirrhosis.
Methods: The study was designed retrospectively, and data were obtained by reviewing patient records at the organ transplant clinic. A total of 37 patients who met the specified criteria were included in the study.
Results: In the study, 9 (24.3%) of the 37 included patients were female. There was no significant difference between the two observers. The correlation between both observers and pathology regarding the presence of lesions showed a strong correlation for both Observer 1 and Observer 2, with r-values of 0.799 and 0.510, respectively. The correlation between Observer 2 and pathology was moderate, with an r-value of 0.441. For Observer 1, the sensitivity of CT was 100% for lesions larger than 2 cm and 64.2% for lesions smaller than 2 cm. For Observer 2, the sensitivity was 100% for lesions larger than 2 cm and 50% for lesions smaller than 2 cm.
Conclusion: Especially in our study, although the sensitivity of CT is low in lesions smaller than 2 cm (50-64%), it is quite successful in lesions larger than 2 cm (100%). However, due to the high spatial and temporal resolution of contrast-enhanced CT, a high false-positive rate should be considered, and patients should not be unnecessarily removed from the transplantation list.