Comparison of contrast-enhanced transabdominal ultrasonography following endoscopic ultrasonography with GD-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI for the sequential diagnosis of liver metastasis in patients with pancreatic cancer

Purpose: To compare contrast-enhanced transabdominal ultrasonography (CE-US) following contrast-enhanced harmonic endoscopic ultrasonography (CH-EUS) with enhanced magnetic resonance imaging using gadolinium-ethoxybenzyl-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (EOB-MRI) in the diagnosis of liver metastases in patients with pancreatic cancer.

Methods: Patients who underwent contrast-enhanced computed tomography for possible pancreatic cancer and required further evaluation with CH-EUS were enrolled in this study, and the diagnostic performance of CE-US following CH-EUS for liver metastasis was compared with that of EOB-MRI.

Results: A total of 228 patients were included in the final analysis. Two hundred thirty-four hepatic lesions were found in 81 patients, and 178 lesions were finally diagnosed as metastases. EOB-MRI had a higher sensitivity (0.837 vs 0.949), while CE-US had a higher specificity and positive predictive value (PPV) (0.982 and 0.993 vs 0.911 and 0.971, respectively) in the diagnosis of liver metastasis. CE-US with defect reperfusion imaging had a higher diagnostic performance than EOB-MRI (0.866 vs 0.667) in the differentiation between liver metastasis and abscess.

Conclusion: EOB-MRI had a higher sensitivity than CE-US for diagnosing liver metastasis in patients with pancreatic cancer, but CE-US following CH-EUS demonstrated a higher specificity and PPV than EOB-MRI and was especially useful in the differentiation between liver metastasis and abscess.