Texture Analysis of Diffusion Kurtosis Imaging for Predicting Early Recurrence of Hepatocellular Carcinoma After Hepatectomy

Abstract

The global incidence and mortality of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are high [1]. Although radical resection of HCC is the most effective treatment, the postoperative recurrence rate is high. Diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) is based on the non-Gaussian diffusion motion of water molecules, which can quantitatively reflect the characteristics of lesions from the perspective of diffusion and heterogeneity[2]. Texture analysis provides information about tissue complexity and heterogeneity based on mathematical methods. This study showed that DKI-based entire-tumor texture analysis could assist in prediction of the early recurrence of HCC patients after hepatectomy, which was beneficial to improve the prognosis.