Dear AuntMinnie Member,
Trying to find the best CT protocol to detect liver carcinoma can be a hassle. Fortunately, we provide a guide to optimizing contrast-enhanced hepatocellular carcinoma exams in this week's CT Digital Community.
The story, by staff writer Eric Barnes, is chock full of tips you can use to improve your HCC imaging. For example, a Japanese group found that adding a fixed scan delay to assess tumor hemodynamics can be useful once a lesion is found.
The group's research is especially important in light of other studies showing that the characteristics of tumor contrast enhancement can correlate with tumor aggressiveness.
Another study, by German researchers, found that high concentrations of the contrast agent iomeprol can improve hepatic tumor conspicuity over lower concentrations. Find additional tips by visiting the CT Digital Community, at ct.auntminnie.com.
![Images show the pectoralis muscles of a healthy male individual who never smoked (age, 66 years; height, 178 cm; body mass index [BMI, calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared], 28.4; number of cigarette pack-years, 0; forced expiratory volume in 1 second [FEV1], 97.6% predicted; FEV1: forced vital capacity [FVC] ratio, 0.71; pectoralis muscle area [PMA], 59.4 cm2; pectoralis muscle volume [PMV], 764 cm3) and a male individual with a smoking history and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) (age, 66 years; height, 178 cm; BMI, 27.5; number of cigarette pack-years, 43.2, FEV1, 48% predicted; FEV1:FVC, 0.56; PMA, 35 cm2; PMV, 480.8 cm3) from the Canadian Cohort Obstructive Lung Disease (i.e., CanCOLD) study. The CT image is shown in the axial plane. The PMV is automatically extracted using the developed deep learning model and overlayed onto the lungs for visual clarity.](https://img.auntminnie.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/03/genkin.25LqljVF0y.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&crop=focalpoint&dpr=2&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)
