Histopathologic correlation of two-phased dynamic incremental CT in hepatocellular carcinomas using multivariate...

In order to grade pathologic factors that influence CT findings in hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs), the CT-pathologic correlation was assessed statistically using univariate and multivariate analyses of 75 lesions. CT findings of early and delayed phase scans using two-phase dynamic incremental CT (TDICT) were compared with pathologic findings in resected specimens to calculate a category score for each pathologic finding. According to category scores, histopathologic differentiation and growth pattern were the major determinants of tumor density. Determinants of the internal structure of tumors were cytological variants, histologic differentiation, and macroscopic classification, in that order. Macroscopic classification, histologic differentiation, fibrous capsule characteristics, and growth pattern were important in descending order for tumor margins. Histologic differentiation was the most important factor for determining TDICT findings in HCCs. The CT findings were modified by parenchymal liver disease and cytologic variants.