REFERENCES
1. Van Malenstein H, van Pelt J, Verslype C. Molecular classification of hepatocellular carcinoma anno 2011. Eur J Cancer 2011;47:1789-97.
2. El-Serag HB, Davila JA, Petersen NJ, McGlynn KA. The continuing increase in the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma in the United States: an update. Ann Intern Med 2003;139:817-23.
3. McGlynn KA, London WT. Epidemiology and natural history of hepatocellular carcinoma. Best Pract Res Clin Gastroenterol 2005;19:3-23.
4. Trevisani F, Cantarini MC, Wands JR, Bernardi M. Recent advances in the natural history of hepatocellular carcinoma. Carcinogenesis 2008;29:1299-305.
5. Ho DW, Lo RC, Chan LK, Ng IO. Molecular pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma. Liver Cancer 2016;5:290-302.
6. Poon RT, Fan ST, Lo CM, Liu CL, Wong J. Long-term survival and pattern of recurrence after resection of small hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with preserved liver function: implications for a strategy of salvage transplantation. Ann Surg 2002;235:373-82.
7. Arii S, Yamaoka Y, Futagawa S, Inoue K, Kobayashi Kojiro M, et al. Results of surgical and nonsurgical treatment for small-sized hepatocellular carcinomas: a retrospective and nationwide survey in Japan. The Liver Cancer Study Group of Japan. Hepatology 2000;32:1224-9.
8. Omata M, Cheng AL, Kokudo N, Kudo M, Lee JM, et al. Asia-Pacific clinical practice guidelines on the management of hepatocellular carcinoma: a 2017 update. Hepatol Int 2017;11:317-70.
9. Korean Liver Cancer Study Group (KLCSG) and National Cancer Center, Korea (NCC). 2014 KLCSG-NCC Korea practice guideline for the management of hepatocellular carcinoma. Gut Liver 2015;9:267-317.
10. Julie K. Heimbach, Laura M. Kulik, Richard S. Finn, Claud. AASLD guidelines for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma. Hepatology 2018;67:358-80.
11. European Association for the Study of the Liver. EASL clinical practice guidelines: management of hepatocellular carcinoma. J Hepatol 2018;69:182-236.
12. Italian Multi-Society reccomandations for the integrated management of Hepatocelluar Carcinoma. Published on line dec 22, 2106. Available from: https://www.sirm.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/HCC.pdf. [Last accessed on 24 May 2019].
13. Claudon M, Dietrich CF, Choi BI, Cosgrove DO, Kudo M, et al. Guidelines and good clinical practice recommendations for contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in the liver - update 2012: a WFUMB-EFSUMB initiative in cooperation with representatives of AFSUMB, AIUM, ASUM, FLAUS and ICUS. Ultrasound Med Biol 2013;39:187-210.
14. Choi JY, Lee JM, Sirlin CB. CT and MR imaging diagnosis and staging of hepatocellular carcinoma: part I. Development, growth, and spread: key pathologic and imaging aspects. Radiology 2014;272:635-54.
15. International Consensus Group for Hepatocellular Neoplasia. Pathologic diagnosis of early hepatocellular carcinoma: a report of theinternational consensus group for hepatocellular neoplasia. Hepatology 2009;49:658-64.
16. Quaia E, Calliada F, Bertolotto M, Rossi S, Garioni L, et al. Characterization of focal liver lesions with contrast-specific US modes and a sulfur hexafluoride-filled microbubble contrast agent: diagnostic performance and confidence. Radiology 2004;232:420-30.
17. Salvatore V, Gianstefani A, Negrini G, Allegretti G, Galassi M, et al. Imaging diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma: recent advances of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography with SonoVue®. Liver Cancer 2016;5:55-66.
18. Giorgio A, Ferraioli G, Tarantino L, de Stefano G, Scala V, et al. Contrast-enhanced sonographic appearance of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with cirrhosis: comparison with contrast-enhanced helical CT appearance. AJR Am J Roentgenol 2004;183:1319-26.
19. Giorgio A, De Stefano G, Coppola C, Ferraioli G, Esposito V, et al. Contrast-enhanced sonography in the characterization of small hepatocellular carcinomas in cirrhotic patients: comparison with contrast-enhanced ultrafast magnetic resonance imaging. Anticancer Res 2007;27:4263-9.
20. Quaia E, Lorusso A, Grisi G, Stacul F, Cova MA. The role of CEUS in the characterization of hepatocellular nodules detected during the US surveillance program--current practices in Europe. Ultraschall Med 2012;33 Suppl 1:S48-56.
21. Dong Y, Mao F, Cao J, Fan P, Wang WP. Characterization of focal liver lesions indistinctive on b mode ultrasound: benefits of contrast-enhanced ultrasound. Biomed Res Int 2017;2017:8970156.
22. Dong Y, Wang WP, Mao F, Dietrich C. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound features of hepatocellular carcinoma not detected during the screening procedure. Z Gastroenterol 2017;55:748-53.
23. Xie DY, Ren ZG, Zhou J, Fan J, Gao Q. Critical appraisal of Chinese 2017 guideline on the management of hepatocellular carcinoma. Hepatobiliary Surg Nutr 2017;6:387-96.
24. Kudo M, Matsui O, Izumi N, Iijima HD, Kadoya M, et al. JSH consensus-based clinical practice guidelines for the management of hepatocellular carcinoma: 2014 update by the liver cancer study group of Japan. Liver Cancer 2014;3:458-68.
25. Vilana R, Forner A, Bianchi L, García-Criado A, Rimola J, et al. Intrahepatic peripheral cholangiocarcinoma in cirrhosis patients may display a vascular pattern similar to hepatocellular carcinoma on contrast-enhanced ultrasound. Hepatology 2010;51:2020-9.
26. Wildner D, Bernatik T, Greis C, Seitz K, Neurath MF, et al. CEUS in hepatocellular carcinoma and intrahepatic cholangiocellular carcinoma in 320 patients - early or late washout matters: a subanalysis of the DEGUM multicenter trial. Ultraschall Med 2015;36:132-9.
27. de Sio I, Iadevaia MD, Vitale LM, Niosi M, Del Prete A, et al. Optimized contrast-enhanced ultrasonography for characterization of focal liver lesions in cirrhosis: a single-center retrospective study. United European Gastroenterol J 2014;2:279-87.
28. Giorgio A, Calisti G, Giorgio V. CEUS and HCC: are the 2008 EFSUMB guidelines still valid or has their wash-out already started? Ultraschall Med 2011;32:315-6.
29. Giorgio A, Montesarchio L, Giorgio V. Misdiagnosis of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma in cirrhosis at contrast-enhanced ultrasound: a real new clinical entity or just an exaggerated fear? Liver Int 2013;33:1608.
30. Giorgio A. Diagnostic algorithm of hepatocellular carcinoma on cirrhosis: CEUS or no CEUS, that is the problem. Dig Liver Dis 2011;43:499.
31. Jang HJ, Kim TK, Burns PN, Wilson SR. CEUS: an essential component in a multimodality approach to small nodules in patients at high-risk for hepatocellular carcinoma. Eur J Radiol 2015;84:1623-35.
32. Kono Y, Lyshchik A, Cosgrove D, Dietrich CF, Jang HJ, et al. Contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) liver imaging reporting and data system (LI-RADS(R)): the official version by the american college of radiology (ACR). Ultraschall Med 2017;38:85-6.
33. Piscaglia F, Wilson SR, Lyshchik A, Cosgrove D, Dietrich CF, et al. American college of radiology contrast enhanced ultrasound liver imaging reporting and data system (CEUS LI-RADS) for the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma: a pictorial essay. Ultraschall Med 2017;38:320-4.
34. Tae Kyoung Kim, Seung Yeon Noh, Stephanie R Wilson, Yuko Kono, Fabio Piscaglia, et al. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) liver imaging reporting and data system (LI-RADS) 2017 - a review of important differences compared to the CT/MRI system. Clin Mol Hepatol 2017;23:280-9.
35. Dietrich CF, Potthoff A, Helmberger T, Ignee A, Willmann JK, et al. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound: liver imaging reporting and data system (CEUS LI-RADS)]. Z Gastroenterol 2018;56:499-506. (in German)
36. Terzi E, Iavarone M, Pompili M, Veronese L, Cabibbo G, et al. Contrast ultrasound LI-RADS LR-5 identifies hepatocellular carcinoma in cirrhosis in a multicenter restropective study of 1,006 nodules; CEUS LI-RADS Italy study group collaborators. J Hepatol 2018;68:485-92.
37. Yang D, Li R, Tang CL, Ma KS, Guo DY, et al. Perfusion characteristics of hepatocellular carcinoma at contrast-enhanced ultrasound: influence of the cellular differentiation, the tumor size and the underlying hepatic condition. Sci Rep 2018;8:4713.
38. Schellhaas B, Hammon M, Strobel D, Pfeifer L, Kielisch C, et al. Interobserver and intermodality agreement of standardized algorithms for non-invasive diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma in high-risk patients: CEUS-LI-RADS versus MRI-LI-RADS. Eur Radiol 2018;28:4254-64.
39. Schellhaas B, Pfeifer L, Kielisch C, Goertz RS, Neurath MF, et al. Interobserver agreement for contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS)-based standardized algorithms for the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma in high-risk patients. Ultraschall Med 2018;39:667-74.
40. Giorgio A, Montesarchio L, Gatti P, Amendola F, Matteucci P, et al. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound: a simple and effective tool in defining a rapid diagnostic work-up for small nodules detected in cirrhotic patients during surveillance. J Gastrointestin Liver Dis 2016;25:205-11.
41. Ling W, Wang M, Ma X, Qiu T, Li J, et al. The preliminary application of liver imaging reporting and data system (LI-RADS) with contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) on small hepatic nodules (≤ 2cm). J Cancer 2018;9:2946-52.
42. Giorgio A, Calisti G, di Sarno A, Farella N, de Stefano G, et al. Characterization of dysplastic nodules, early hepatocellular carcinoma and progressed hepatocellular carcinoma in cirrhosis with contrast-enhanced ultrasound. Anticancer Res 2011;31:3977-82.
43. Aubé C, Oberti F, Lonjon J, Pageaux G, Seror O, et al. EASL and AASLD recommendations for the diagnosis of HCC to the test of daily practice. Liver Int 2017;37:1515-25.
44. Moudgil S, Kalra N, Prabhakar N, Dhiman RK, Behera A, et al. Comparison of contrast enhanced ultrasound with contrast enhanced computed tomography for the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma. J Clin Exp Hepatol 2017;7:222-9.
45. Huf S, Platz Batista da Silva N, Wiesinger I, Hornung M, Scherer MN, et al. Analysis of liver tumors using preoperative and intraoperative contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS/IOCEUS) by radiologists in comparison to magnetic resonance imaging and histopathology. Rofo 2017;189:431-40.
