Table 2 Characteristics of patients with CT diagnosis of liver nodules and histopathology correlation
Characteristics | Total nodules 330 | HCC on CT 133 (40.3%) | Indeterminate on CT 50 (15.2%) | Regenerative on CT 147 (44.5%) | p-value |
Age (years, mean ± SD) | 53.2 ± 12.7 | 58.6 ± 11.6 | 56.7 ± 10 | 47.1 ± 11.8 | < 0.001 |
Gender (male/female) | 266/64 | 108/25 | 38/12 | 120/27 | 0.667 |
Log AFP (ng/mL, mean ± SD) | 2.63 ± 3.1 | 3.5 ± 2.3 | 3.01 ± 2.4 | 1.7 ± 1.1 | < 0.001 |
Nodule size (cm, median (IQR)) | 1.7 (1.1–2.1) | 2.1 (1.9–5.0) | 1.4 (1.2–1.6) | 1.2 (1–1.8) | < 0.001 |
Increased AFP (> 8.5 ng/mL) (%) | 138 (41.8) | 84 (63.1) | 31 (62) | 23 (15.6) | < 0.001 |
Nodules classified according to size (largest diameter) on CT | |||||
 < 1 cm (% of total nodules) | 29 (8.8) | 0 (0) | 2 (4) | 27 (18.5) | < 0.001 |
 1–2 cm (% of total nodules ) | 198 (60) | 48 (36) | 44 (88) | 106 (72) | |
 > 2 cm (% of total nodules) | 103 (31.2) | 85 (63.9) | 4 (8) | 14 (9.5) | |
CT histopathology correlation | |||||
Histopathology classification (%) | HCC 136 (41.2%) | Dysplastic 11 (3.3%) | Regenerative 183 (55.5%) | ||
True positive on CT | 129 | 7 | 141 | ||
True negatives on CT | 190 | 276 | 141 | ||
False positive on CT | 4 | 43 | 6 | ||
False negative on CT | 7 | 4 | 42 | ||
Sensitivity % (95% CI) | 94.9 (89.8–97.5) | 63.6 (35.4–84.8) | 77.0 (70.4–82.5) | ||
Specificity % (95% CI) | 97.9 (94.8–99.2) | 86.5 (82.3–89.8) | 95.9 (91.4–98.1) | ||
PPV % (95% CI) | 96.9 (92.5–98.8) | 14 (6.9–6.2) | 95.9 (91.4–98.1) | ||
NPV % (95% CI) | 96.5 (92.9–98.3) | 98.6 (96.4–99.44) | 77.1 (70.4–82.5) | ||
Accuracy % (95% CI) | 96.7 (94.1–98.1) | 85.8 (81.6–89.1) | 85.5 (81.2–88.9) | ||