Assessing hepatomegaly: automated volumetric analysis of the liver

The aims of this study were to define volumetric nomograms for identifying hepatomegaly and to retrospectively evaluate the performance of radiologists in assessing hepatomegaly.

Livers were automatically segmented from 148 abdominal contrast-enhanced computed tomographic scans: 77 normal livers and 71 cases of hepatomegaly (diagnosed by visual inspection and/or linear liver height by radiologists). Quantified liver volumes were compared to manual measurements using volume overlap and error. Liver volumes were normalized to body surface area, from which hepatomegaly nomograms were defined (H scores) by analyzing the distribution of liver sizes in the healthy population. H scores were validated against consensus reports. The performance of radiologists in diagnosing hepatomegaly was retrospectively evaluated.

The automated segmentation of livers was robust, with volume overlap and error of 96.2% and 2.2%, respectively. There were no significant differences (P > .10) between manual and automated segmentation for either the normal or the hepatomegaly subgroup. The average volumes of normal and enlarged livers were 1.51 ± 0.25 and 2.32 ± 0.75 L, respectively. One-way analysis of variance found that body surface area (P = .004) and gender (P = .02), but not age, significantly affected normal liver volume. No significant effects were observed for two-way and three-way interactions among the three variables (P > .18). H-score cutoffs of 0.92 and 1.08 L/m2 were used to define mild and massive hepatomegaly (95% confidence interval, ± 0.02 L/m2). Using the H score as the reference standard, the sensitivity of radiologists in detecting all, mild, and massive hepatomegaly was 84.4%, 56.7%, and 100.0% at 90.1% specificity, respectively. Radiologists disagreed on 20.9% of the diagnosed cases (n = 31). The area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve of the H-score criterion for hepatomegaly detection was 0.98.

Nomograms for the identification and grading of hepatomegaly from automatic volumetric liver assessment normalized to body surface area (H scores) are introduced. H scores match well with clinical interpretations for hepatomegaly and may improve hepatomegaly detection compared with height measurements or visual inspection, commonly used in current clinical practice.