Three-dimensional imaging of liver tumors using helical CT during intravenous injection of contrast medium

Purpose: The goal of this work was to determine whether 3D reconstruction of images from CT during intravenous injection of contrast medium, performed in tandem with advanced rendering algorithms, could accurately depict major anatomic structures and hepatic tumors. Method: Thirty-one patients (22 with hepatocellular carcinoma, 8 with metastatic lesions, and 1 with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma) underwent CT imaging. Twenty-three of the 31 patients underwent needle biopsy or surgery, yielding a histologic diagnosis. The remaining eight patients were diagnosed from imaging findings and laboratory data. We compared the ability of maximum intensity projection (MIP) and volume-rendered technique (VRT) images to depict the hepatic veins and intrahepatic portal veins. Results: Both MIP and VRT depicted the course of vessels up to the second or third branches. The techniques did not significantly differ. In this regard, in most cases, visualization of the liver surface and tumor was excellent with VRT images. Conclusion: Volume-rendered 3D-CT images during intravenous injection without the MIP technique produced 3D images of high quality with excellent visualization of tumors and their relationships to vital structures.