Extension of Hepatocellular Carcinoma -A Comparative Study of Preoperative Hepatic Imagings and Pathological Findings of Resected Specimens-

Takashi Kanematsu*, Takashi Matsumata, Motoyuki Yamagata, Eisuke Adachi, Yasuharu Ikeda, Hiroshi Hayashi, Keiko Urata, Keizo Sugimachi

Department of Surgery II, Faculty of Medicine, Kyushu University (*Second Department of Surgery, Nagasaki University School of Medicine)

The present study was carried out to determine the limitations of diagnosis by currently available hepatic imagings in terms of extension of primary hepatocellular carcinoma. Diagnosis by hepatic imagings was compared with that by pathological findings in resected specimens from 112 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who had undergone hepatic resection. The agreement between hepatic imagings and pathological examination was 70%. The false negative and false positive rates were 16% and 14%, respectively. In patients with a "false negative" diagnosis, intrahepatic metastasis was the most frequent cause. Half of these error were noticed during the operation, by naked eye, palpation or ultrasonic examination. However, the remaining errors were detected by pathological examination. In patients with a "false positive" diagnosis, angiographic study was the most common cause. In 195 patients undergoing hepatic resection with a tentative diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma, 9 (4.6%) of the tumors were histologically proved to be non-malignant.

Key words
hepatocellular carcinoma, hepatic imagings, pathological diagnosis

Reprint requests
Takashi Kanematsu Second Department of Surgery, Nagasaki University School of Medicine
7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki City, 852 JAPAN

Accepted
November 20, 1991

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