Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34829348›Full record

ArticleDiagnostics (Basel, Switzerland)2021

Measuring HCC Tumor Size in MRI-The Sequence Matters!

Marco Armbruster, Markus Guba, Joachim Andrassy, Markus Rentsch, Vincent Schwarze, Johannes Rübenthaler, Thomas Knösel, Jens Ricke, Harald Kramer

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
0.7field-weighted citation impact, top 29% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Marco ArmbrusterDepartment of Radiology, University Hospital, LMU Munich, 81377 Munich, Germany.
Markus GubaDepartment of General, Visceral, Vascular, and Transplant Surgery, Medical Center of the University of Munich, 81377 Munich, Germany.
Joachim AndrassyDepartment of General, Visceral, Vascular, and Transplant Surgery, Medical Center of the University of Munich, 81377 Munich, Germany.ORCID 0000-0001-8303-3913
Markus RentschDepartment of General, Visceral and Thoracic Surgery, Klinikum Ingolstadt, 85049 Ingolstadt, Germany.
Vincent SchwarzeDepartment of Radiology, University Hospital, LMU Munich, 81377 Munich, Germany.
Johannes RübenthalerDepartment of Radiology, University Hospital, LMU Munich, 81377 Munich, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-0832-5662
Thomas KnöselInstitute of Pathology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, 81377 Munich, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-1822-0197
Jens RickeDepartment of Radiology, University Hospital, LMU Munich, 81377 Munich, Germany.
Harald KramerDepartment of Radiology, University Hospital, LMU Munich, 81377 Munich, Germany.
LMU Klinikum · DEKlinikum Ingolstadt · DELudwig-Maximilians-Universität München · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe aim of this paper was to assess and compare the accuracy of common magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) pulse sequences in measuring the lesion sizes of hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) with respect to the Milan criteria and histopathology as a standard of reference.

methodsWe included 45 patients with known HCC who underwent contrast-enhanced MRI of the liver prior to liver transplantation or tumor resection. Tumor size was assessed pathologically for all patients. The MRI protocol contained axial T2-weighted images as well as T1-weighted imaging sequences before and after application of Gd-EOB-DTPA. Tumor diameters, the sharpness of lesions, and the presence of artifacts were evaluated visually on all available MRI sequences. MRI measurements and pathologically assessed tumor dimensions were correlated using Pearson's correlation coefficient and Bland-Altman plots. The rate of misclassifications following Milan criteria was assessed.

resultsThe mean absolute error (in cm) of MRI size measurements in comparison to pathology was the smallest for the hepatobiliary phase T1-weighted acquisition (0.71 ± 0.70 cm, r = 0.96) and largest for the T2w turbo-spin-echo (TSE) sequence (0.85 ± 0.78 cm, r = 0.94). The misclassification rate regarding tumor size under the Milan criteria was lowest for the T2w half-Fourier acquisition single-shot turbo spin-echo sequence and the hepatobiliary phase T1w acquisition (each 8.6%). The highest rate of misclassification occurred in the portal venous phase T1w acquisition and T2w TSE sequence (each 14.3%).

conclusionsThe hepatobiliary phase T1-weighted acquisition seems to be most accurate among commonly used MRI sequences for measuring HCC tumor size, resulting in low rates of misclassification with respect to the Milan criteria.

Indexed as

hepatobiliary agentshepatobiliary phasehepatocellular carcinomaliver transplantationMRI

Identifiers

PMID34829348
PMCPMC8623118
OpenAlexW3209907949

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.