Comparative analysis of contrast-enhanced ultrasound and contrast-enhanced CT in differential diagnosis of benign and malignant space-occupying lesions of gallbladder

Objective To compare the efficacy of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and enhanced CT (CECT) in differential diagnosis of benign and malignant space-occupying lesions of gallbladder. Methods The clinical data of 68 cases of space-occupying lesions of gallbladder confirmed by surgery and biopsy were retrospectively analyzed. The diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of CEUS and CECT were analyzed and compared. Results In a total of 68 cases of space-occupying lesions of gallbladder, 31 cases were benign lesions and 37 were malignant lesions (gallbladder cancer). For the benign lesions cases, CEUS and CECT were mainly hyper-enhanced in the early stage of enhancement, which were 90.3% and 83.9%, respectively. In the late stage of enhancement, they were mostly low-enhanced, which were 93.5% and 87.1%, respectively. For the gallbladder cancer cases, CEUS and CECT were predominantly hyper-enhanced in the early stage of enhancement, which were 94.6% and 89.2%, respectively, and were all low-enhanced in the late stage of enhancement. In the differential diagnosis for benign and malignant space-occupying gallbladder lesions by CEUS, the differences in peak time, extinction time, peak intensity and average transit time were statistically significant (all P 0.05). In the diagnosis of benign and malignant lesions cases, the diagnostic accuracy of CEUS and CECT were 92.6% and 89.7%, the sensitivity was 93.5% and 90.3%, and the specificity was 89.2% and 83.8%, respectively, but the differences were not statistically significant (all P>0.05). Conclusion CEUS and CECT have comparable efficacy in differential diagnosis of benign and malignant space-occupying lesions of gallbladder. CEUS has advantages over CECT and is worthy of extensive clinical application and promotion. Key words: Contrast-enhanced ultrasound; Enhanced CT; Gallbladder cancer