Precision in Liver Surgery: A Comparative Analysis of Volumetry Techniques.
Academic Article
Overview
abstract
BACKGROUND: Future liver remnant volume (FLRV) is a critical determinant of safety for hepatectomy. This study assesses concordance between imaging-based measured FLRV (mFLRV), and body surface area (BSA)-based standardized FLRV (sFLRV), and their association with post-hepatectomy complications. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All major hepatectomy between 1999 and 2021 were assessed for agreement between mFLRV and sFLRV using concordance correlation coefficient (CCC). Association between each method and major postoperative complications, post-hepatectomy liver failure (PHLF), or grade 4/5 morbidity was compared using logistic regression model and area under the receiver-operating characteristic (AUC) curve to evaluate the discriminatory power of each volumetry method separately. RESULTS: A total of 1749 patients were included, 49% were female, median age was 60 years, 70.2% had metastatic disease, and 49.7% received preoperative chemotherapy. Median sFLRV (41.3%) was higher than mFLRV (39.4%). Major complications were observed in 5.1% (n = 90). Concordance between mFLRV and sFLRV was moderate, CCC = 0.78 (95% CI 0.75-0.79) but was poor (CCC = 0.39; 95% CI 0.32-0.43) among patients with mFLRV ≤ 35% (n = 528). In this subset, sFLRV overestimated remnant volume in 63% (n = 333) with ≥ 5% overprediction in 145 patients (27.5%). Factors associated with ≥ 5% variation were lower weight (p = 0.003), lower BMI (p = 0.003), and lower BSA (p = 0.004). Both methods performed similarly in predicting major complications with AUC of 0.64 and 0.63 for sFLRV and mFLRV, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Imaging- and BSA-based volumetry are moderately correlated, with poor concordance among patients with smaller FLRV where sFLRV overestimated remnant volume. Both techniques can be safely used for volumetric assessment before major hepatectomy.