Measurement of liver volume by ultrasound and computed tomography

A morphometric method to calculate liver volumes from transverse sections is evaluated (point-integrating method). In the first part of the study, 10 liver specimens were investigated by computed tomography (CT) and ultrasound (US); the calculated volumes were compared to the volumes obtained by water displacement of the organs. While CT showed an ideal agreement (r = 0.994), volumes calculated from US sections correlated less well (percentage differences from +12.5% to -9%, r = 0.915). In the second part of the study, the livers of 10 randomly selected patients were investigated by CT and US. Liver volumes were calculated using the point-integration method. Compared to the CT examination, US results show a good correlation with a correlation coefficient of r = 0.977. The point-integration method is very valuable to measure organ volumes from transverse sections. The method can be applied "offline" to photographic films, data do not have to be recorded electronically. The time required to calculate the volume of an organ is comparable to other methods.