Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver cancer. Worldwide, the surveillance program of HCC is well-established for the patients with high risk. The early stage of HCC has the highest likelihood for cure. It is therefore important to make the early diagnosis of HCC. The imaging criteria for the diagnosis of HCC have established detailing the characteristic enhancement pattern of HCC including hypervascularity in the arterial phase and washout in the portal or delayed phase of dynamic imaging. However, in the current practical guidelines, there are controversies for HCC smaller than 1 cm in size because of the low sensitivity of CT and MR for HCC smaller than 1 cm in size. Recent advances in CT and MR hardware and software allow for rapid acquisition times that can reduce many of motion artifacts. Furthermore, recently introduced hepatocyte-specific MR contrast agents have showed its superior efficacy in both detection and characterization of small focal liver lesion by providing both dynamic imaging and hepatobiliary phase imaging. So, we reviewed the diagnostic performance of CT and MRI for HCC smaller than 1 cm in size. In addition, we introduced our experience for HCC smaller than 1 cm in size.

• Keywords: Hepatocellular carcinoma;Computed Tomography;Magnetic Resonance Imaing;Contrast