Stereological evaluation of liver volume in living donor liver transplantation using MDCT via the cavalieri method

✍ Scribed by Cihan Duran; Bulent Aydinli; Yaman Tokat; Yildiray Yuzer; Mecit Kantarci; Metin Akgun; Kamil Yalcin Polat; Bünyami Unal; Refik Killi; S. Selcuk Atamanalp

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 408 KB
• Volume: 13
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1527-6465
• DOI: 10.1002/lt.21132

✦ Synopsis

In living donor liver transplantation (LDLT), obtaining the precise volume of the graft is very important to decrease volumerelated postoperative complications, especially in cases with suspected small-for size grafts. We used stereology based on the Cavalieri method (CM), a new method to measure liver graft volume, and compared the results with those obtained through intraoperative measurement (IOM) and through multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) measurement. Liver volumes estimated using the 3 methods were well-correlated with each other (r 2 ϭ 0.94 and P Ͻ 0.001 for IOM and CM; r 2 ϭ 0.91 and P Ͻ 0.001 for IOM and MDCT, and r 2 ϭ 0.95 and P Ͻ 0.001 for CM and MDCT); however, they were different from each other (in descending order, 908 Ϯ 124 cm 3 , 861 Ϯ 121 cm 3 , and 777 Ϯ 168 cm 3 for MDCT, CM, and IOM, respectively). Although MDCT and CM overestimated the volumes, the results of CM were almost similar to those obtained via IOM. In conclusion, our results suggest that CM measured the liver graft volume more reliably. Thus, its use, particularly in cases with suspected small-for-size graft, may prove useful.