Prospective volumetric assessment of the liver on a personal computer by nonradiologists prior to partial hepatectomy.

BACKGROUND

A small remnant liver volume is an important risk factor for posthepatectomy liver failure. ImageJ and OsiriX® are both free, open-source image processing software packages. The aim of the present study was to compare ImageJ and OsiriX® in performing prospective computed tomography (CT) volumetric analysis of the liver on a personal computer (PC) in patients undergoing major liver resection.

METHODS

Patients scheduled for a right hemihepatectomy were eligible for inclusion. Two surgeons and one surgical trainee measured volumes of total liver, tumor, and future resection specimen prospectively with ImageJ and OsiriX®. A radiologist also measured these volumes with CT scanner-linked Aquarius iNtuition® software. Resection volumes were compared with the actual weights of the liver specimens removed during surgery, and differences between the measured liver volumes were analyzed.

RESULTS

A total of 15 patients (8 men, 7 women) with a median age of 63 years (48-79 years) were included. There was a significant correlation between the measured weights of resection specimens and the volumes calculated prospectively with ImageJ and OsiriX® (r=0.89; r=0.83, respectively). There was also a significant correlation between the volumes measured with radiological software iNtuition® and the volumes measured with ImageJ and OsiriX® (r=0.93; r=0.95, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

There were no major differences in total liver volumes, resection volumes, or tumour volumes for these three software packages. Prospective hepatic CT volumetry with ImageJ or OsiriX® is reliable and can be accurately used on a PC by nonradiologists. ImageJ and OsiriX® yield results comparable to the radiological software iNtuition®.