Small Arterial Phase-Enhancing Hepatic Lesions Usually Are Benign

Current guidelines advise that patients with cirrhosis undergo screening for hepatocellular carcinoma. Quite frequently, small arterial phase-enhancing lesions are encountered during screening with computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. Because many of these lesions do not have hypoattenuation on portal venous phase, they are atypical for hepatomas and pose a diagnostic dilemma — biopsy versus observation. To determine outcomes of these lesions, researchers retrospectively studied patients who had hepatic nodules (10–20 mm in size) with arterial phase enhancement, but without venous phase washout. Patients were excluded if they had any lesions typical of hepatoma. Serial CT scans were performed every 3 months. If a lesion increa…