HEPATIC TRANSIT TIME ALLOWS DIFFERING BETWEEN BENIGN AND MALIGNANT LIVER LESIONS

Purpose: Shortening of the hepatic transit time (HTT) of an echo enhancer (hepatic artery to hepatic vein delay) indicates metastatic spread to the liver. Previous studies showed an average transit time of about 15s in patients without liver lesions, and about 6.5s in patients with known liver metastasis. Is there an influence of benign liver lesions on the hepatic transit time? Permits the change of the hepatic transit time discrimination between malignant and benign lesions? Methods and Materials: Patients with sonographically found liver lesions were enrolled in this study. The dignities of the liver lesions…