Importance of Multislice Computed Tomography in Determining the Severity of Chronic Liver Disease State.

BACKGROUND

In the present study, we aimed to put forward the relationship between multidetector computed tomography findings and scores for liver function evaluation.

METHOD

Included in the study were 51 patients with liver cirrhosis. Preoperative creatinine levels, international normalized ratio and alpha-fetoprotein values, albumin and sodium levels, the presence of ascites and varices, Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) scores, MELD-Sodium (MELD-Na) scores, and Child-Turcotte-Pugh Classification, the presence of ascites and varices, the size of liver, the size and diameter of the spleen, portal vein diameter, splenic artery diameter, and proper hepatic and right hepatic artery diameter were all determined.

RESULTS

Although the correlation between the spleen diameter and the MELD scores (P <.001) and MELD-Na scores (P = .02) was strong, there was no association with the Child-Turcotte-Pugh Classification (P = .08). Despite the correlations between portal vein diameter (P = .04) and splenic artery diameter (P = .04) and MELD scores, no association was detected with MELD-Na scores and the Child-Pugh scores. Even though a negative correlation between proper hepatic artery diameter (P = .18) and MELD-Na scores was noted, no statistically significant correlation could be identified with any scoring systems. In the multivariate linear regression analyses, the correlation between the portal vein diameter and MELD scores was significant as a radiologic finding. In the multiple linear regression analyses, the negative correlation between the right hepatic artery and MELD-Na scores diameter was statistically significant. In the multiple linear regression analyses, there was no statistically significant correlation between preoperative radiologic findings and Child-Turcotte-Pugh Classification.

CONCLUSION

We believe that preoperative multislice computed tomography imaging in patients with chronic liver disease may contribute to the diagnosis of disease, the determination of vascular anomalies, and the grading of the severity of the disease.