Abstract: Objective The aim of this study was to investigate evaluation of intrahepatic residual lesions by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan in patients with primary liver cancer (PLC) after transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE). Methods 116 patients with PLC were encountered in our hospital between June 2020 and August 2022, and all underwent TACE therapy for one to three times at interval of one month. Patients were followed-up and had digital subtraction angiography (DSA), MRI and CT scan by end of three months. Diagnostic performance of MRI and CT scan was evaluated based on DSA golden criteria. Results Of 146 lesions in 116 patients with PLC, there were 103 residual tumor lesions and 43 lesions at complete remission states showed by DSA by end of three months after TACE; sensitivity, accuracy and negative predictive value by MRI scan in determining residual tumors were 92.2%, 94.5% and 84.3%, all significantly higher than 73.8%, 81.5% and 61.4% (P＜0.05) by CT scan; of 103 residual tumors after TACE, DSA found iodine oil deposition type Ⅰ in 10 cases, type Ⅱ in 51 cases, type Ⅲ in 35 cases and type Ⅳ in 7 cases; the positive rates of type Ⅰ and Ⅱ showed by MRI scan were 70.0% and 90.2%, both much higher than 10.0% and 64.7%, respectively (P＜0.05) by CT scan; after TACE therapy, MRI scan showed enveloped tumors in 54 cases (37.0%), much higher than 16 cases (11.0%) by CT scan (P＜0.05). Conclusion MRI scan has a satisfactory diagnostic efficacy in assessing residual tumor lesions after TACE therapy, which might play a pivotal role in making strategy for further treatment in this setting.

Key words: Hepatoma, Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization, Residual tumors, Magnetic resonance imaging, Diagnosis