Superb microvascular imaging technology of ultrasound examinations for the evaluation of tumor vascularity in hepatic hemangiomas

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate and categorize the diverse features of hepatic hemangiomas on superb microvascular imaging (SMI) in a relatively large prospective study.Methods: In this prospective study, 70 patients with 92 hepatic hemangiomas were consecutively enrolled. All nodules were radiologically confirmed with the typical imaging features of hepatic hemangiomas on dynamic computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Using SMI, all lesions were evaluated and categorized into subgroups according to the flow pattern on SMI. Differences in the frequencies of SMI patterns according to lesion size and enhancement patterns on dynamic CT or MRI were also compared.Results: In 67.4% (62/92) of hemangiomas, tumor vascularity was detected using SMI, while 32.6% (30/92) did not show any signal on the SMI examination, and the absence of an SMI signal was not shown in rapidly enhancing hemangiomas (0% [0/30] vs. 100% [30/30], P=0.002) and was more frequent in lesions