Evaluation of liver volume and liver function following hepatic resection in man

Abstract

ABSTRACT— In a longitudinal study liver volume and liver function were measured in a series of 12 patients undergoing partial liver resection for focal hepatic lesions. Ultrasonography revealed that liver volume, reduced by about 50% by the resection, progressively increased, and 6 months after surgery it returned to nearly normal values. A variable reduction in routine liver function tests was observed, possibly reflecting the influence of the different reserve synthetic capacity of the liver and, in the early postoperative phase, plasma half‐life of liver products and blood loss or changes in plasma volume. The galactose elimination capacity was only marginally reduced in the early period (from a pre‐surgery value of 2.49 ± SE 0.21 mmol/min to 2.31 ± 0.14 after 7 days; p = ns) and reached a nadir at 14 days (1.97 ± 0.16; p<0.001). When expressed per unit of liver volume, the galactose elimination (22 ± 2 μmol/min per unit before resection) progressively decreased during the regeneration phase from 36 ± 4 at 14 days to 26 ± 3 at 6 months (P vs 14‐day: <0.01). At 6 months both galactose elimination and galactose elimination per unit of liver volume were no longer different from baseline values. Our data show that, following hepatic resection, both liver volume and liver function increase and progressively return to nearly normal values. In agreement with data obtained in animal studies, it appears that the metabolic activity of the remaining parenchyma is increased in the early postoperative phase, and it slows down in the course of regeneration.

Equivalent Outcomes After Anatomical and Non-anatomical Resection of Small Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Patients with Preserved Liver Function

“…In the present study, the resected liver volume was less in the NAR group than the AR group despite similar tumor size, although postoperative changes in the above laboratory data were not evaluated. Considering that the resected liver volume is reported to influence postoperative liver regeneration, it is possible that the NAR offers advantages over AR with respect to the postoperative liver function [28][29][30]. Collectively, considering the similar outcome in AR and NAR, NAR seems to be more advantageous in hepatic resection for HCC.…”

Regeneration After Two-Stage Hepatectomy vs Repeat Resection for Colorectal Metastasis Recurrence

“…[21][22][23] This discrepancy may be due to methodologic Total liver volume before and after procedures (a) and ratio of total liver volume after hepatectomies to that before any procedure (b). Each value is the mean±SD.…”

Ultrasound measurements of the liver: an intra and inter‐rater reliability study

“…The three measurements of Max Long, Max AP and Max Trans (measurements 1–3) were described in multiple studies. However, none of these studies gave detailed information on the measurement technique 1 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 …”