Contrast-enhanced ultrasound in the diagnosis of gallbladder diseases: a multi-center experience.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To assess the usefulness of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in differentiating malignant from benign gallbladder (GB) diseases. METHODS: This study had institutional review board approval. 192 patients with GB diseases from 9 university hospitals were studied. After intravenous bonus injection of a phospholipid-stabilized shell microbubble contrast agent, lesions were scanned with low acoustic power CEUS. A multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to identify diagnostic clues from 17 independent variables that enabled differentiation between malignant and benign GB diseases. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed. RESULTS: Among the 17 independent variables, multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the following 4 independent variables were associated with the benign nature of the GB diseases, including the patient age, intralesional blood vessel depicted on CEUS, contrast washout time, and wall intactness depicted on CEUS (all P53.5 yrs is also a clue for GB malignancy.