Abstract
Primary liver tumors and liver metastases are the two most common malignant liver tumors. In cases of unresectable malignant tumors, local ablative therapies are considered as the preferred option. These include transarterial chemoembolization, radioembolization, radiofrequency ablation, microwave ablation, percutaneous alcohol injection, cryotherapy and laser therapy. Local ablative therapies have the additive advantage of preserving the uninvolved liver parenchyma, and can be used in combination or as adjuvant to surgery or bridge to liver transplantation. MRI is more sensitive and accurate compared to CT in detecting and characterize malignant liver lesions pre- and post-therapy. The aim of this article is to describe the MRI appearance of post-treatment liver changes after a wide variety of local ablative therapies and discuss some of the new advances in post-treatment liver imaging.
Keywords: Alcohol ablation, locoregional treatment, malignant liver lesions, microwave ablation, MRI, radiofrequency ablation, transarterial chemoembolization, 90Y radioembolization.