Sonographic preoperative assessment of liver volume before major liver resection.

Objective: The use of ultrasonography is widespread for both the diagnosis and treatment of liver tumors. However, the measurement of liver volume by ultrasonography is not commonly done. We report an original method of liver volumetry using ultrasonography and an investigation into the usefulness of ultrasonography in this context.

Methods: The data for 50 patients undergoing various types of major hepatectomy were collected. We preoperatively measured liver volume using ultrasonography, dividing the liver into three main compartments according to precise anatomical landmarks, and then made comparisons with the volume of the actual specimen after hepatectomy, for all of the study participants.

Results: Total volume correlation between the two groups was good (r = 0.916, P < 0.001). However, the correlation was weaker in cases of right hepatectomy compared with other types of hepatectomy.

Conclusion: This study demonstrates the possibility of doing liver volumetry using an ultrasound device. Further investigation to establish the reliability of this easily available and noninvasive approach is needed.