Liver volume measurement by spiral CT: an in vitro study

Liver volume measurement has many clinical and research uses. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate experimentally the accuracy and reproducibility of spiral computed tomography (CT) in measuring liver volume. To determine the accuracy of spiral CT system, nine fresh (non-formalin-fixed) sheep livers were scanned in vitro. The collimation was 7 mm. The CT sections were stored on floppy disks and the images were transferred to the workstation that contained a software for volume measurement. The mean volume is 912+/-497 ml and the actual reference volume is 921+/-527 ml. The correlation between the CT system and actual reference measurement of sheep liver volumes was very strong. The correlation coefficient r was.998 (P<.001) on 7-mm sections. The mean difference between liver volume measurements was 4.95+/-3.23%. As a result, CT scan could be used as a reference noninvasive method for liver volume measurement in clinics.