Determination of a hepatic volumetric index by ultrasonic scanning.

A prospective study was carried out to calculate, by a fast and simple ultrasonic method, the size of the liver. Seventy-five normal subjects, 38 men and 37 women, average age 51 +/- 17 years (range 19-85) were studied. The three main diameters of the liver, breadth, thickness, and height, were obtained using a compound scan technique; each diameter was measured at its largest dimension. These measurements were multiplied together and the product arbitrarily divided by 27, which is the cube of the three diameters. This yielded the hepatic volumetric index (HVI), which was between 95 and 140 in 95% of normal subjects below 65 years of age and ranged from 80 to 135 in those above 65 years. These last data proved to be in accordance with the well-known involution of liver size in the elderly and with our retrospective study on 207 normal subjects. Then, using the criteria previously proposed by us, the population studied in the prospective study was divided into three groups of morphotypes: endomorphs, ectomorphs, and mesomorphs. The ectomorphs had an HVI slightly lower than that of the endomorphs. This HVI determination, based on standardized measurements and on a statistically controlled method, allows us to separate normal from pathological livers in 10 min and plays an important part in day-to-day clinical practice.