CONTINUING EDUCATION PROGRAM : FOCUS . . . Can we justify not doing liver perfusion imaging in 2013 ?

Liver perfusion imaging is a quantitative functional investigation. Liver perfusion imaging is complicated because of the liver's dual vascular supply, artefacts due to respiratory movements and the fenestrated sinusoidal capillaries which allow the contrast medium to diffuse out. Liver perfusion can be examined by ultrasound, CT or MRI: each technique has its limitations and specific features. The major indications in hepatology are oncology (detection, characterization and tumor response) and non-invasive investigation of patients with chronic liver disease. Work is needed to standardize acquisition and modeling methods to allow wider use of results and more widespread use of the technique.

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