Consistency of human liver.

Area of Science:

• Hepatology
• Biomedical Engineering
• Surgical Pathology

Background:

• Assessing liver fibrosis severity is crucial for managing chronic liver disease.
• Current methods often rely on invasive biopsies or indirect functional tests.
• A direct, quantitative measure of liver tissue consistency could improve diagnostic accuracy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a biomechanical technique for measuring liver consistency.
• To investigate the relationship between liver consistency, histological fibrosis, and liver function.
• To determine if liver consistency can serve as a predictive index for hepatic fibrosis grading.

Main Methods:

• A novel technique was devised using a needle with a microballoon to measure liver consistency biomechanically (delta P/delta V).
• Measurements were taken on the left liver lobe during laparotomy (n=52) and on resected specimens (n=24).
• Correlations were analyzed between liver consistency, histological fibrosis, and liver function tests.

Main Results:

• Liver consistency significantly increased with the degree of hepatic fibrosis, from non-fibrosis to fully developed cirrhosis.
• A strong correlation was observed between liver consistency and morphometrically estimated hepatic fiber content (r=0.82, P<0.01).
• Liver function tests (except albumin) showed significant correlations with liver consistency, but weaker than with fibrosis.

Conclusions:

• The developed biomechanical technique provides a reliable and quantitative measure of liver consistency.
• Liver consistency is a strong predictor of hepatic fibrosis severity and grading.
• This method holds potential as a valuable diagnostic index in liver disease assessment.