Accuracy of computed tomography during arterial portography in the segmental localization of liver tumours.

The ability of computed tomography during arterial portography (CTAP) to identify and segmentally locate 20 hepatic tumours was prospectively assessed in 7 patients undergoing hepatic resection. All eight lesions greater than 2.5 cm in diameter were detected, but only two out of four and two out of eight of those measuring 1-2.4 cm and < 1 cm respectively. The overall segmental localization accuracy for detected lesions was 91%. Our results highlight the insensitivity of CTAP to hepatic lesions smaller than 1 cm in size, but have shown the accuracy of segmental localization for detected lesions.