Drug Discov Ther. 2025;19(6):414-424. (DOI: 10.5582/ddt.2025.01105)

Comparative study of contrast-enhanced ultrasound and contrast-enhanced computed tomography in the diagnosis of benign and malignant lesions of the gallbladder

Fang L, Qiu ZY, Xu LW, Hu F, Tao YC, Ding SN, Zhou J, Wang L, Chen L

This study compared the diagnostic value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) for differentiating benign and malignant gallbladder (GB) lesions. A retrospective analysis was performed on 151 hospitalized patients with GB lesions: 74 underwent CEUS alone, 25 CECT alone, and 52 both examinations preoperatively. Histopathology served as the reference standard. Imaging features of benign/malignant lesions were compared using t-test or chi-square (χ²) test; CEUS quantitative parameters were analyzed via t-test. Diagnostic efficacy of the two modalities was compared by χ² test. Of 151 patients, 57 (37.7%) had malignant and 94 (62.3%) benign lesions. Statistically significant differences between benign and malignant groups were observed in CEUS/CECT features (vascular enhancement morphology, contrast distribution, GB wall integrity, ill-defined borders with adjacent liver) and CEUS washout time (WT) (all P < 0.05). In the entire cohort, no significant differences existed between CEUS and CECT in sensitivity (89.2% vs. 85.7%), specificity (78.8% vs. 74.3%), accuracy (84.9% vs. 80.5%), positive predictive value (PPV) (85.7% vs. 80.0%) and negative predictive value (NPV) (83.7% vs. 81.2%) (all P > 0.05). Similar non-significant differences were noted in the 52-patient subgroup (sensitivity: 65.0% vs. 80.0%; specificity: 62.5% vs. 80.0%; accuracy: 63.5% vs. 76.9%; PPV: 40.6% vs. 50.0%; NPV: 51.3% vs. 66.7%; all P > 0.05). CEUS is effective for differentiating benign and malignant GB lesions, with diagnostic efficacy comparable to CECT.

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