Email this article Assessment of liver volume with spiral computerized tomography scanning: predicting liver volume by age and height
Abstract
Background: Estimation of liver size has critical clinical implication. Precise knowledge of liver dimensions and volume is prerequisite for clinical assessment of liver disorders. Liver span as measured by palpation and USG is prone to inter-observer variability and poor repeatability. The aim was to assess the normal liver volume of healthy adults using spiral computed tomography scans and to observe its relationship with various body indices.
Methods: In this prospective study, all the patients who underwent spiral computed tomography (CT) of the abdomen or thorax in department for conditions unrelated to the hepatobiliary system, during the study period were included. One hundred patients were selected using convenient sampling technique. Study subjects were evaluated clinically and also by laboratory tests. Volume was determined by multiplying the sum of all slices by the 3-D image reconstruction and volume-rendering tool.
Results: Liver volume reciprocally correlated with age (correlation coefficient: r=0.11, p=0.04). Liver volume also correlated with other indices as body height (r=0.12, p=0.02), body weight (r=0.16, p=0.02), BMI (r=0.06, p=0.05) and BSA (r=0.04, p=0.01). Age and body height were found to be good predictors of liver volume (adjusted r2=0.011, F=3.169) and liver volume was best predicted by the following equation: liver volume=672.35+(-8.41x age)+(722.80 x body height).
Conclusions: Liver volume is a reliable index of liver size and measurement of liver volume with spiral CT is useful method. Spiral CT can be utilized for measurement of liver volume for such purpose.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Tutar UN, Kirbaş I, Oztürk A, Sevmiş S, Kayahan Ulu EM, Coşkun M, et al. Computed tomography volumetric follow-up of graft volume in living related liver recipients. Transplant Proc. 2007;39(4):1175-7.
Ogasawara K, Une Y, Nakajima Y, Uchino J. The significance of measuring liver volume using computerized tomography images before and after hepatectomy. Surgery Today: Springer Tokyo. 1994;25(1):43-8.
Harada N, Shimada M, Yoshizumi T, Suehiro T, Soejima Y, Maehara Y. A simple and accurate formula to estimate left hepatic graft volume in living-donor adult liver transplantation. Transplantation. 2004;77(10):1571.
Nakayama Y, Li Q, Katsuragawa S, Ikeda R, Hiai Y, Awai K, et al. Automated hepatic volumetry for living related liver transplantation at multisection CT. Radiology. 2006;240(3):743-8.
Singh V, Singh K, Singh D, Nain CK, Sodhi L. Liver span and weight in health and disease. Trop Gastroenterol. 1999;20(2):73-4.
Kirk RM. Clinical assessment of liver enlargement? Indian J Gastroenterol. 2004;23:163-4.
Niederau C, Sonnenberg A, Muller JE, Erckenbrecht JF, Scholten T, Fritsch WP. Sonographic measurement of the normal liver, spleen, pancreas, and portal vein. Radiology. 1983;149:537-40.
Sarac K, Kutlu R, Yakinci C, Durmaz Y, Baysal T, Ozgen O. Sonographic evaluation of liver and spleen size in school-age children. Turk J Med Sci. 2000;30:187-90.
Yuan Y, Song B, Wu B, Xu J, Li YC. Research on relationship between preoperative CT volumetry of donor's liver and intraoperative weight measurement of liver for living related liver transplantation. 2000;38(3):526-8.
Heymsfield SB, Fulenwider T, Nordlinger B, Barlow R, Sones P, Kutner M. Accurate measurement of liver, kidney, and spleen volume and mass by computerized axial tomography. Ann Intern Med. 1979;90:185-7.
Lin XZ , Sun YN, Liu YH, Sheu BS, Cheng BN, Chen CY et al. Liver volume in patients with or without chronic liver diseases. Hepatogastroenterology. 1998;45(22):1069-74.
Kiuchi T, Kasharah M, Uryhuhara k, Inomata Y, Uemota S, Asonuma K, et al. Impact of graft size mismatching on graft prognosis in liver transplantation from living donors. Transplantation. 1999;67:321-7.
Henderson JM, Heymsfield SB, Horowitz J, Kutner MH. Measurement of liver and spleen volume by computed tomography. Radiology. 1981;141:525-7.
Chandramohan A, Eapen A, Govil S, Govil S, Jeyaseelan V. Determining standard liver volume: assessment of existing formulae in Indian population. Indian J Gastroenterol. 2007:26:22-5.
Agrawal D, Lalwani R, Asghar A, Sahai A, Sharma P, Singh R. Assessment of liver volume with spiral computerized tomography scanning in North Indian adults. Internet J Radiology. 2009;13(1):1-7.
Wynne HA, Cope LH, Mutch E, Rawlins MD, Woodhouse KW, James OF. The effects of age upon liver volume and apparent liver bold flow in healthy man. Hepatology. 1989;9:297-301.
