Elasticity imaging of the liver: is a hemangioma hard or soft?

Diagnosing hemangioma-the most common benign vascular malformation in the liver-requires special and expensive imaging studies including nuclear medicine, magnetic resonance or CT scans. Routine ultrasound is suggestive but not diagnostic. In this paper, we test the hypothesis that hemangioma can be diagnosed using ultrasound-based reconstructive elasticity imaging. A hemangioma consists of large, blood-filled, endothelial-lined spaces separated by fibrous septa. Internally, hemangiomata are soft and spongy. Imaging the elasticity of liver using ultrasound may differentiate hemangioma from other tumor types, and therefore, provide a non-invasive means of hemangioma diagnosis.