Construction and efficacy validation of a multi-parametric contrast-enhanced ultrasound nomogram model for discriminating hepatic inflammatory lesions from malignancies

Table 1 Comparative baseline measurements across datasets

Variable	Total	Training set (n = 373)	Validation set (n = 124)	Test set (n = 124)	Statistic	P value
Sex					0.464	0.793
Male	417 (67.15)	250 (67.02)	81 (65.32)	86 (69.35)
Female	204 (32.85)	123 (32.98)	43 (34.68)	38 (30.65)
Diabetes history					4.847	0.089
Yes	69 (11.11)	33 (8.85)	18 (14.52)	18 (14.52)
No	552 (88.89)	340 (91.15)	106 (85.48)	106 (85.48)
Hypertension history					4.351	0.114
Yes	100 (16.10)	51 (13.67)	23 (18.55)	26 (20.97)
No	521 (83.90)	322 (86.33)	101 (81.45)	98 (79.03)
Echocardiographic features					1.083	0.582
Mixed	358 (57.65)	216 (57.91)	67 (54.03)	75 (60.48)
Other	263 (42.35)	157 (42.09)	57 (45.97)	49 (39.52)
Lesion location					0.010	0.995
Left lobe	497 (80.03)	299 (80.16)	99 (79.84)	99 (79.84)
Right lobe	124 (19.97)	74 (19.84)	25 (20.16)	25 (20.16)
Border clarity					1.055	0.590
Ill-defined	456 (73.43)	275 (73.73)	87 (70.16)	94 (75.81)
Well-defined	165 (26.57)	98 (26.27)	37 (29.84)	30 (24.19)
Morphology					2.515	0.284
Irregular	361 (58.13)	219 (58.71)	77 (62.10)	65 (52.42)
Regular	260 (41.87)	154 (41.29)	47 (37.90)	59 (47.58)
Homogeneous enhancement					0.709	0.701
Yes	390 (62.80)	236 (63.27)	80 (64.52)	74 (59.68)
No	231 (37.20)	137 (36.73)	44 (35.48)	50 (40.32)
Cirrhosis					0.158	0.924
Yes	226 (36.39)	134 (35.92)	45 (36.29)	47 (37.90)
No	395 (63.61)	239 (64.08)	79 (63.71)	77 (62.10)
Hepatitis					3.419	0.181
Yes	477 (76.81)	296 (79.36)	91 (73.39)	90 (72.58)
No	144 (23.19)	77 (20.64)	33 (26.61)	34 (27.42)
Blood flow signals					4.104	0.663
0	221 (35.59)	132 (35.39)	41 (33.06)	48 (38.71)
1	153 (24.64)	100 (26.81)	27 (21.77)	26 (20.97)
2	157 (25.28)	90 (24.13)	37 (29.84)	30 (24.19)
3	90 (14.49)	51 (13.67)	19 (15.32)	20 (16.13)
Calcification					0.832	0.660
Yes	303 (48.79)	178 (47.72)	65 (52.42)	60 (48.39)
No	318 (51.21)	195 (52.28)	59 (47.58)	64 (51.61)
Age (year)	57.00 (51.00, 62.00)	57.00 (51.00, 63.00)	57.00 (52.00, 63.00)	56.50 (51.00, 61.00)	2.096	0.351
Body mass index (kg/m2)	23.01 ± 1.99	22.96 ± 2.01	22.96 ± 1.92	23.18 ± 2.00	0.607	0.545
Lesion size (cm)	4.10 (2.30, 6.00)	3.80 (2.10, 5.90)	4.50 (2.70, 6.03)	4.05 (2.60, 6.05)	3.948	0.139
Wash-in time (second)	23.00 (19.00, 27.00)	23.00 (19.00, 27.00)	22.50 (20.00, 25.00)	22.00 (19.00, 27.00)	2.816	0.245
Wash-out time (second)	135.00 (72.00, 212.00)	137.00 (72.00, 210.00)	135.50 (88.00, 211.75)	127.00 (64.50, 215.50)	0.666	0.717
AFP	9.55 (6.17, 17.97)	9.70 (6.20, 17.27)	9.13 (5.74, 18.25)	9.36 (6.14, 18.41)	0.114	0.945
MELD score	18.79 (15.78, 22.45)	18.85 (15.98, 22.33)	19.05 (15.14, 23.01)	18.59 (15.68, 22.23)	0.818	0.664

Descriptive statistics of continuous variables are expressed using the mean ± SD (normal distribution) or median (quartile; skewed distribution); categorical variables are shown as n (%). AFP: Alpha-fetoprotein; MELD: Model for End-Stage Liver Disease.