Preoperative assessment of vessels encapsulating tumor clusters (VETC) in hepatocellular carcinoma using IVIM diffusion-weighted imaging

Vessels encapsulating tumor clusters (VETC) is a powerful predictor of a poor prognosis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Therefore, preoperative radiologic prediction of these histopathological results can allow optimized management of HCC and help improve long-term survival for patients. However,to our knowledge, no published studies have investigated preoperative VETC patten of HCC using IVIM parameters and comparing with DWI. Our study indicated that IVIM-derived D* provides a non-invasive analytical approach for preoperative predicting VETC of HCC. ADC value were not predictive for VETC.