Advanced Fusion Imaging and Contrast-Enhanced Imaging (CT/MRI–CEUS) in Oncology

• Main Authors: Vincent Schwarze, Johannes Rübenthaler, Constantin Marschner, Matthias Philipp Fabritius, Johannes Rueckel, Nicola Fink, Daniel Puhr-Westerheide, Eva Gresser, Matthias Frank Froelich, Moritz Ludwig Schnitzer, Nils Große Hokamp, Saif Afat, Michael Staehler, Thomas Geyer, Dirk-André Clevert
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-09-01
• Series: Cancers
• Subjects: fusion imaging; ultrasound; CEUS; CT; MRI; kidney
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/12/10/2821

Fusion imaging depicts an innovative technique that facilitates combining assets and reducing restrictions of advanced ultrasound and cross-sectional imaging. The purpose of the present retrospective study was to evaluate the role of fusion imaging for assessing hepatic and renal lesions. Between 02/2011–08/2020, 92 patients in total were included in the study, of which 32 patients had hepatic lesions, 60 patients had renal lesions. Fusion imaging was technically successful in all patients. No adverse side effects upon intravenous (i.v.) application of <i>SonoVue^®</i> (<i>Bracco</i>, Milan, Italy) were registered. Fusion imaging could clarify all 11 (100%) initially as indeterminate described hepatic lesions by computed tomography/magnetic resonance imaging (CT/MRI). Moreover, 5/14 (36%) initially suspicious hepatic lesions could be validated by fusion imaging, whereas in 8/14 (57%), malignant morphology was disproved. Moreover, fusion imaging allowed for the clarification of 29/30 (97%) renal lesions initially characterized as suspicious by CT/MRI, of which 19/30 (63%) underwent renal surgery, histopathology revealed malignancy in 16/19 (84%), and benignity in 3/19 (16%). Indeterminate findings could be elucidated by fusion imaging in 20/20 (100%) renal lesions. Its accessibility and repeatability, even during pregnancy and in childhood, its cost-effectiveness, and its excellent safety profile, make fusion imaging a promising instrument for the thorough evaluation of hepatic and renal lesions in the future.