Accuracy of estimated total liver volume formulas before liver resection

Background: Future remnant liver volume is used to predict the risk for liver failure in patients who will undergo major liver resection. Formulas to estimate total liver volume based on biometric data are widely used to calculate future remnant liver volume; however, it remains unclear which formula is most accurate. This study evaluated published estimate total liver volume formulas to determine which formula best predicts the actual future remnant liver volume based on measurements in a large number of patients who underwent associating liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy surgery.

Methods: All patients with complete liver volume data in the associating liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy registry were included in this study. Estimate total liver volume and estimated future remnant liver volume were calculated for 16 published formulas. The median over- or underestimation compared with actual measured volumes were determined for estimate total liver volume and future remnant liver volume. The proportion of patients with an under- or overestimated future remnant liver volume for each formula were compared with each other using a 25% cut-off for each formula.

Results: Among 529 studied patients, the formulas ranged from a 19% underestimation to a 63% overestimation of estimate total liver volume. Estimation of future remnant liver volume lead to a 10% underestimation to a 5% overestimation among the formulas. Of all studied formulas, the Vautheyl formula was the most accurate, generating underestimation of future remnant liver volume in 20% and overestimation of future remnant liver volume in 6% of patients.

Conclusion: Validation of 16 published total liver volume formulas in a multicenter international cohort of 529 patients that underwent staged hepatectomy revealed that the Vauthey formula (estimate total liver volume =18.51 x body weight + 191.8) provides the most accurate prediction of the actual future remnant liver volume. (C) 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.