Benign and malignant lesions of the parenchyma

Focal expansive lesions are readily detected by ultrasound, CT and MRI. The sensitivity of the different modalities varies somewhat, but for practical purposes a normal ultrasound examination may nearly always rule out significant focal pathology, provided there are no technical limitations, like significant overweight.
Simple cysts are easily detected by ultrasound, CT and MRI.

Haemangioma can often be confirmed by ultrasound or NM upon "tagging" blood cells with a radioactive marker. Some haemangioma behave differently, and in such cases dynamic CT or MRI (where several scans are taken at short intervals after injection of a contrast medium) is preferred.

Focal nodular hyperplasia and adenoma require specially tailored CT-examinations or MRI.

Metastases are mostly detected by ultrasound, but are often characterised better with CT or MRI. If surgery is planned, a preoperative mapping has to be done with either CT or MRI. Though is it important to know that a fine-needle biopsy may be mandatory to confirm the diagnosis.