| Differential diagnosis of hepatic lesions |
CT-radiographic finding and contrast enhancement |
| Metastases |
Hypodense lesion, asymmetrical contrast enhancement in arterial phase |
| Hepatocellular carcinoma |
Hypervascular lesion in arterial phase, whereby the lesion shows a contrast washout in the portal venous phase |
| Cholangiocellular carcinoma |
Delayed contrast enhancement |
| Lymphoma |
Primary hepatic lymphoma: Either low density lesion in both contrast-enhanced and non-contrast-enhanced CT-scan or bearing a contrast-enhancing rim
Secondary hepatic lymphoma: Blood vessel floating sign and enhancement |
| Subcentimeter focal lesions |
Difficult to charakterize by radiographics, whereas over 80 % are benign |
| Haemangioma |
Arterial hyper-enhancement in all phases or globular, peripheral or discontinuous enhancement in portal venous phase |
| Focal steatosis |
Nodular appearance, hypodense lesion due to fatty infiltration |
| Cysts |
Hypodense lesions with no contrast enhancement |
| Focal nodular hyperplasia |
Iso- / hypodens lesion with contrast enhancement in the arterial phase, persistent hypervascularisation in portal venous phase and central scar |
| Hepatocellular adenoma |
Hypodens lesion with hyperdens intersets, hyperdens and often inhomogen in the arterial phase, in portal venous phase iso- / hypodens |
| Hepatic abscess |
Depending mainly on the cause. Pyogenic abscesses are well-defined hypodense lesions with rim enhancement |
| Biliar hamartoma |
Contrast-enhancement of the stromal components of the tumor |
| Haemangioendothelioma |
Hypodense mass in unenhanced CT-scan, resemble contrast-enhancement of haemangioma |
