August 13, 2018 — The American College of Radiology Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS) steering committee developed and approved a new version of CT/MRI LI-RADS (v2018). The approval reaches a critical milestone of integration into the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) 2018 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) clinical practice guidance.
“By implementing two minor changes to CT/MRI LI-RADS, we were able to unify LI-RADS with AASLD,” said Claude B. Sirlin, M.D., chair, LI-RADS Steering Committee. “Harmonizing these two guidance systems for liver imaging will further reduce imaging interpretation variability and errors, enhance communication with referring clinicians, enable the collection of standardized data and ultimately yield better patient outcomes.”
LI-RADS v2018 revises the definition of the LI-RADS major feature threshold growth and revises one LI-RADS category 5 criterion (10-19 mm + arterial phase hyperenhancement + “washout” = LR-5). The ACR intends to return to a three- to four-year update cycle, with the next major comprehensive update to LI-RADS CT (computed tomography)/MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) anticipated in 2021.
View the update LI-RADS CT/MRI v2018 Core here.
For more information: www.acr.org
January 29, 2026 
