Published in:
01-01-2020 | Hepatocellular Carcinoma | Abdominal Radiology
Characterization of liver nodules in patients with chronic liver disease by MRI: performance of the Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS v.2018) scale and its comparison with the Likert scale
Authors:
Andrea Esposito, Valentina Buscarino, Dario Raciti, Elena Casiraghi, Matteo Manini, Pietro Biondetti, Laura Forzenigo
Published in:
La radiologia medica
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Issue 1/2020
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Abstract
Objectives
To evaluate the performance of the LI-RADS v.2018 scale by comparing it with the Likert scale, in the characterization of liver lesions.
Methods
A total of 39 patients with chronic liver disease underwent MR examination for characterization of 44 liver lesions. Images were independently analyzed by two radiologists using the LI-RADS scale and by another two radiologists using the Likert scale. The reference standard used was either histopathological evaluation or a 4-year MRI follow-up. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed.
Results
The LI-RADS scale obtained an accuracy of 80%, a sensitivity of 72%, a specificity of 93%, a positive predictive value (PPV) of 93% and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 70%, while the Likert scale achieved an accuracy of 79%, a sensitivity of 73%, a specificity of 87%, a PPV of 89% and a NPV of 70%. The area under the curve (AUC) was 85% for the LI-RADS scale and 83% for the Likert scale. The inter-observer agreement was strong (k = 0.89) between the LI-RADS evaluators and moderate (k = 0.69) between the Likert evaluators.
Conclusions
There was no statistically significant difference between the performances of the two scales; nevertheless, we suggest that the LI-RADS scale be used, as it appeared more objective and consistent.