Coarse Nodular US Pattern in Hepatic Cirrhosis: Risk for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

PURPOSE: To determine the prevalence of the coarse nodular ultrasonographic (US) pattern and its prognostic importance in terms of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk in hepatic cirrhosis caused by hepatitis B virus (HBV); HBV with hepatitis D virus (HDV), formerly known as hepatitis delta virus; hepatitis C virus (HCV); and alcoholic cirrhosis (ALC) or primary biliary disease (primary biliary cirrhosis [PBC]). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Four hundred two cases of hepatic cirrhosis caused by HBV (94 patients), HDV (100 patients), HCV (100 patients), ALC (63 patients), or PBC (45 patients) were retrospectively reviewed to identify the US pattern present at diagnosis and its possible association with the cause of the disease and subsequent development of HCC during a mean follow-up of 43.9 months ± 29.9 (SD). Data were analyzed with the χ2, Fisher exact, and log-rank tests and with the Kaplan-Meier method (all two-tailed). RESULTS: The coarse nodular pattern was found in a significantly higher percentage of pati...