GI & Abdominal imaging

Team: Widmann G, Henninger B, Plaikner M, Jöbstl A, Gerstner A, Telia T, Recheis W

An ongoing project, which is supported by the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) with a doctoral scholarship (Dr. Anna-Katharina Gerstner), deals with the topic of spectral CT in chronic liver diseases, such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), Alcohol-related liver disease (ARLD) and progressive cirrhosis. These liver diseases can induce hepatocellular tumors (HCC), for which early and comprehensive diagnosis and monitoring of the underlying chronic liver disease are necessary. Spectral CT, as a further development of conventional CT, not only offers the possibility of purely morphological imaging, but also the potential to quantify various substances such as fat, iron or iodine in the liver - crucial components in chronic liver disease and HCC. The study is running in close cooperation with the Department of Hepatology.

Several studies evaluate radiomic tumor features in liver tumors, colon carcinomas and pancreatic carcinomas. Goals are to determine prognostic information, tumour mutation profile, and early recognition of progression.

Patient with hepatocellular carcinoma of the liver. Dual Energy CT virtual monochromatic image reconstruction (VMI 50 keV) shows a significantly enhanced representation of the contrast-enhancing tumor parts. Virtual non-contrast reconstruction (VNC) can subtract the iodine-containing contrast agent using material decomposition imaging. The white arrow indicates bright residual lipiodol from a lesion previously treated with transarterial chemo-embolization.