Abstract: Objective The purpose of this study was to investigate the qualitative diagnosis by multi-slice spiral CT (MSCT) and serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) detection combination in patients with intrahepatic space-occupying lesions (SOL). Methods 82 patients with intrahepatic SOL were encountered in our hospital between January 2021 and December 2022, and all patients underwent MSCT plain and contrast-enhanced scans. Serum AFP level was detected by chemiluminescence, and serum VEGF level was detected by ELISA. The diagnostic performance was evaluated by the area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curves. Results Out of the 82 patients with intrahepatic SOL, the pathological examination showed hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in 43 cases, and focal proliferative nodules (FPN) in 39 cases, while the MSCT scan diagnosed primary liver cancer (PLC)in 36 cases and benign lesions in 46 cases; the CT value at plain, contrast-enhanced arterial, portal and delayed phases in HCC lesions were (33.2±1.7), (68.2±2.4), (61.5±1.2) and (31.9±1.6), all significantly lower than in FPN lesions; serum AFP and VEGF levels in patients with HCC were (310.5±25.3)ng/mL and (97.6±62.1)ng/L, both significantly higher than in patients with FPN; the sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp) by MSCT in determining malignant lesions were 81.4% and 97.4%, while they both increased to 97.4% when the CT scan was combined with these two serum parameters. Conclusion The combination of contrast-enhanced MSCT scan and serum AFP and VEGF detection could help determine the quality of intrahepatic SOL, which has a great implications in clinical practice.

Key words: Hepatoma, Focal proliferative nodules, Contrast-enhanced multi-slice spiral CT scan, Alpha-fetoprotein, Diagnosis