Background: Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) features of primary hepatobiliary neoplasms have been reported in dogs but no information is available in cats.
Methods: Qualitative and quantitative features of bile duct adenomas (BDAs, n=20), bile duct carcinomas (BDCs, n=16), and hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs, n=8) are described in 44 cats.
Results: There was an overlap in CEUS qualitative features between different histotypes, both in wash-in and wash-out phases. Distinction between different neoplasms based only on the CEUS qualitative features was not possible. At peak of enhancement, the BDAs, BDCs and HCCs showed a large range of echogenicities, from hypoenhancement to hyperenhancement, in comparison to the liver parenchyma. Eight of 20 BDAs showed inhomogeneous hyperenhancement during wash-in, which is a feature reported as typical of malignant lesions in dogs. BDC had a significantly faster wash-in compared with both BDA and HCC but the diagnostic accuracy of all the included quantitative variables was only moderate. No significant differences in the wash-out quantitative features of BDA and BDC were evident.
Conclusion: There is poor evidence that CEUS may be used to distinguish between different primary hepatobiliary neoplasms in cats.
Keywords: cat; cholangiocarcinoma; contrast-enhanced ultrasound; cytology; hepatocellular carcinoma.
© British Veterinary Association 2019. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. Published by BMJ.