Abstract: Objective To explore the diagnostic value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) combined with serum miR-1290 and miR-1825 in differentiating benign and malignant liver lesions. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on 120 patients with liver lesions treated in Qinhuangdao Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital from January 2023 to May 2024. Based on pathological results, patients were divided into a benign (48 cases) and a malignant (72 cases) lesion group. All patients underwent CEUS and the expression levels of serum miR-1290 and miR-1825 were measured. The diagnostic value of each indicator was analyzed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results The expression levels of serum miR-1290 and miR-1825 in the malignant lesion group were (2.34 ± 0.68) and (1.89 ± 0.53), respectively, which were higher than those of (1.12 ± 0.37) and (0.94 ± 0.28) in the benign lesion group (both P<0.05). The proportion of early enhancement, high enhancement, and rapid washout in the CEUS characteristics of the malignant lesion group was higher than those of benign lesion group [91.67% (66/72) vs. 20.83% (10/48), 76.39% (55/72) vs. 33.33% (16/48), 79.17% (57/72) vs. 8.33% (4/48)] (all P<0.05), while the proportion of homogeneous enhancement was lower in the malignant lesion group [19.44% (14/72) vs. 50.00% (24/48)] (P<0.05). The sensitivity and specificity of miR-1290, miR-1825, and CEUS in predicting specific diseases were 81.9% and 91.7%, 88.9% and 85.4%, and 95.8% and 89.6%, respectively, demonstrating the accuracy of different diagnostic methods in detecting the disease. When CEUS was combined with miR-1290 and miR-1825, the sensitivity and specificity increased to 98.6% and 95.8%, respectively, indicating that the combined detection has higher predictive efficacy. Additionally, the Youden index for the combined detection was 0.944, and the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.983 (95% CI: 0.959-1.000), showing high consistency and reliability. Conclusion CEUS combined with serum miR-1290 and miR-1825 levels has high application value in differentiating benign and malignant liver lesions. Especially the combination of three of them demonstrate a higher predictive efficacy and reliability. Therefore, a combined detection can serve as an important diagnostic method for focal liver lesions.

Key words: Contrast-enhanced ultrasound, miR-1290, miR-1825, Benign and malignant liver lesions, Diagnostic value