High-signal-intensity MR Image in the Hepatobiliary Phase Predicts Long-term Survival in Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma

BACKGROUND/AIM: The aim of the study was to evaluate surgical outcomes of patients with high-signal intensity (SI) image hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between 2008 and 2013, 257 HCC patients were retrospectively evaluated. A total of 21 patients were diagnosed as high-SI image HCC, 215 as low-SI image HCC, and 21 patients as mixed (high and low)-SI image HCC in the hepatobiliary (HB) phase of MRI. Five-year overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were compared among patient groups. RESULTS: The 5-year OS and RFS rates were significantly higher in patients with high-SI image HCC (100% and 56%) than in patients with low-SI image HCC (71%; p=0.097 and 38%; p=0.0209) and in patients with mixed-SI image HCC (73%; p=0.0329 and 9%; p=0.0021). High-SI image was an independent prognostic factor for OS (relative risk 0.167, p=0.0178) and RFS (relative risk 0.471, p=0.0322) on multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: Patients with high-SI image HCC showed favorable long-term survival after curative surgery.