Liver metastases of neuroendocrine tumors: is it possible to diagnose different histologic subtypes depending on multiphasic CT features?

Purpose To assess and compare the multiphasic computed tomography (CT) features of neuroendocrine tumor (NET) liver metastases and to investigate the possibility to predict the histologic subtype of the primary tumor. Materials and methods Between January 2013 and December 2017 patients with biopsy proven NET with at least one liver metastasis who underwent multiphasic CT were enrolled in this study. All cases were acquired using a standardized multiphasic liver CT protocol, arterial, portal, and hepatic venous phases were obtained. Images were retrospectively analyzed in consensus by two abdominal radiologists blinded to clinical data and histologic subtype. The size, number, and location of lesions were noted. Enhancement patterns of each lesion on arterial, portal, and hepatic venous phases were assessed. For quantitative analysis, CT attenuation of tumors, liver parenchyma, and aorta were measured using a circular region of interest (ROI) on arterial, portal, and hepatic venous phases for reflecting the blood supply of the tumor. Tumor-to-aorta and tumor-to-liver ratio were calculated in all three phases. Differences between subtypes of NET liver metastases were studied using ROC analysis of clustered data. Results A total of 255 neuroendocrine tumor liver metastases divided into 101 (39.6%) pancreatic, 60 (23.5%) gastroenteric and 94 (36.8%) lung NET liver metastases were analyzed. Contrast enhancement of lesions was homogeneous in 78% of patients ( n = 199), which was significantly more frequent in patients with pancreatic group than in those with gastroenteric origin ( n = 90, 89.1% vs. n = 28, 46.7%; p