Thermal ablation with fusion imaging guidance of hepatocellular carcinoma without conspicuity on conventional or contrast-enhanced US: surrounding anatomical landmarks matter

Aim Evaluating clinical and technical factors affecting thermal ablation of B-Mode/CEUS inconspicuous HCC nodules, relying only on fusion imaging (FI) performed under conscious sedation and using previously acquired CT or MR. Materials and methods Among 367 HCC nodules treated in the study period, data of 37 B-mode/CEUS undetectable HCC nodules treated with FI-guided ablation were extracted from our prospectively collected institutional database. Analyzed variables included patients’ sex, age, cirrhosis etiology, Child–Pugh status, size of the lesion, liver segment, subcapsular or central liver site, type of imaging used for fusion (MR/CT), and the presence of surrounding anatomical landmarks (SAL)