CT Scan VS MRI

In July I had an ultrasound because I was experiencing pain mainly in my upper right abdomen and occasionally on the left.  In addition to this intense pain I was also experiencing a pressure in my abdomen on the right side that felt like my liver was being pushed out or distended and my ribs were poking it.  Ultrasound revealed I had a 5cm x 4 cm lesion on liver but could not be identified - nothing could be excluded.  Was sent for CT scan one week later which revealed the lesion was definitely not a hemangioma and that it was possibly another benign tumor but cancer could not be ruled out.  Was sent for an MRI one week later.  MRI stated that lesion was atypical and concluded it was most likely a hemangioma because I wasn't sick nor lost any weight.

How could the radiologist who read the CT scan be so certain it was NOT a hemangioma and the radiologist who read the MRI state it was even probably was a hemangioma even though it wasn't characteristic of one.  How could two tests produce such different results?

[Thomas D Schiano, MD]

the radiologists who read the scans can have different expertises as can the radiology centers where you have the scans performed. Hemangioma have characteristic MRI qualities and affect about 3% of the general population.  If we are unsure of the diagnosis, we often end up repeating the scan in 3-6 months using an MRI with a special contrast agent, named eovist.