Assessment of Microvascular Invasion of Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Diffusion Kurtosis Imaging

Purpose To evaluate the potential role of diffusion kurtosis imaging and conventional magnetic resonance (MR) imaging findings including standard monoexponential model of diffusion-weighted imaging and morphologic features for preoperative prediction of microvascular invasion (MVI) of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Materials and Methods Institutional review board approval and written informed consent were obtained. Between September 2015 and November 2016, 84 patients (median age, 54 years; range, 29-79 years) with 92 histopathologically confirmed HCCs (40 MVI-positive lesions and 52 MVI-negative lesions) were analyzed. Preoperative MR imaging examinations including diffusion kurtosis imaging (b values: 0, 200, 500, 1000, 1500, and 2000 sec/mm2) were performed and kurtosis, diffusivity, and apparent diffusion coefficient maps were calculated. Morphologic features of conventional MR images were also evaluated. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate the relative value of these parameters as potential predictors of MVI. Results Features significantly related to MVI of HCC at univariate analysis were increased mean kurtosis value (P © RSNA, 2017.