[Localisation of hepatic lesions to liver segments according to sonography (US), computed tomography (CT) and surgery (OP): a comparative study].

Introduction: The localisation of focal liver lesions is usually performed according to the Couinaud classification system. The exact description of localisation and size of liver lesions is especially important for surgical procedures. The aim of this prospective study was the evaluation of differences and agreements in the localisation and size of hepatic lesions as found by ultrasound (US), computed tomography (CT) and according to the intraoperative status (OP).
Material and Methods: 32 patients (21 male, 11 female) were enrolled in the study. The results obtained from sonography, computed tomography and surgery were classified into 5 categories for localisation and for size, respectively.
Results: According to the agreement between sonography and computed tomography, 25 % of all hepatic lesions were classified into category 1 (exact agreement), whereas 40.6 % were ranked into category 2 (almost exact agreement). Correlating sonography and intraoperative results, 31.3 % of the lesions were classified into category 1 and 46.9 % into category 2. In the comparison of CT with OP, 34.4 % of the lesions were found to be in category 1 and 43.8 % in category 2. Concerning the size of the lesions, almost half of the tumours (46.9 %) were classified into category 1 on the basis of the correlation between US and CT and 21.9 % on the basis of the correlation between US and OP.
Discussion: The localisation and description of the size of hepatic lesions is mainly similar or even identical on the basis of the different methods. Further improvements might be achieved by the introduction of a consistent nomenclature.