Background: Hepatic volume measurement provides useful information in a large range of clinical situations.
Aims: The goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that significant correlation exists between hepatic volume calculated using three-dimensional reconstruction of computed tomography (CT) data and hepatic height calculated using coronal reformation of CT images in European adult patients without liver disease.
Methods: One hundred patients (50 men, 50 women; mean age, 47 years) without hepatic disease were included. Coronal and three-dimensional images of the liver were obtained using 64-section helical CT. Correlation between hepatic height and hepatic volume was searched for using the Pearson correlation test. Regression analysis was used to compare hepatic height and hepatic volume.
Results: A strong and highly significant positive correlation was found between hepatic height and hepatic volume, with a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.767 (95%CI 0.672-0.837; r² = 0.588) (P < 0.001). The equation of the correlation line was y = 11.764x - 244 where y represents the hepatic volume in cm³ and x the hepatic height in mm.
Conclusion: Hepatic height as obtained on coronal CT image is a simple and rapid measurement that allows predicting hepatic volume in European adult patients without liver disease.