Value of gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI for microvascular invasion of small hepatocellular carcinoma: a retrospective study

Abstract Background The objective of this study was to analyze the accuracy of gadolinium–ethoxybenzyl–diethylenetriamine penta–acetic acid enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (Gd–EOB–DTPA–MRI) for predicting microvascular invasion (MVI) in patients with small hepatocellular carcinoma (sHCC) preoperatively. Methods A total of 60 sHCC patients performed with preoperative Gd–EOB–DTPA–MRI in the Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital from October 2018 to October 2019 were involved in the study. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed by chi–square test and logistic regression analysis. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of Gd–EOB–DTPA–MRI were performed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results Univariate analysis indicated that alanine aminotransferase (≥ 39.00U/L), poorly differentiated pathology, and imaging features including grim enhancement, capsule enhancement, arterial halo sign and hepatobiliary features (tumor highly uptake, halo sign, spicule sign and brush sign) were associated with the occurrence of MVI ( p < 0.05). Multivariate analysis revealed that rim enhancement and hepatobiliary spicule sign were independent predictors of MVI ( p < 0.05). The area under the ROC curve was 0.917 (95% confidence interval 0.838–0.996), and the sensitivity was 94.74%. Conclusions The morphologies of hepatobiliary phase imaging, especially the spicule sign, showed high accuracy in diagnosing MVI of sHCC. Rim enhancement played a significant role in diagnosing MVI of sHCC.