Prospective volumetric assessment of the liver on a personal computer by nonradiologists prior to partial hepatectomy.
BACKGROUND
A small remnant liver volume is an important risk factor for posthepatectomy liver failure. ImageJ and OsiriX® are both free, open-source image processing software packages. The aim of the present study was to compare ImageJ and OsiriX® in performing prospective computed tomography (CT) volumetric analysis of the liver on a personal computer (PC) in patients undergoing major liver resection.


METHODS
Patients scheduled for a right hemihepatectomy were eligible for inclusion. Two surgeons and one surgical trainee measured volumes of total liver, tumor, and future resection specimen prospectively with ImageJ and OsiriX®. A radiologist also measured these volumes with CT scanner-linked Aquarius iNtuition® software. Resection volumes were compared with the actual weights of the liver specimens removed during surgery, and differences between the measured liver volumes were analyzed.


RESULTS
A total of 15 patients (8 men, 7 women) with a median age of 63 years (48-79 years) were included. There was a significant correlation between the measured weights of resection specimens and the volumes calculated prospectively with ImageJ and OsiriX® (r=0.89; r=0.83, respectively). There was also a significant correlation between the volumes measured with radiological software iNtuition® and the volumes measured with ImageJ and OsiriX® (r=0.93; r=0.95, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
There were no major differences in total liver volumes, resection volumes, or tumour volumes for these three software packages. Prospective hepatic CT volumetry with ImageJ or OsiriX® is reliable and can be accurately used on a PC by nonradiologists. ImageJ and OsiriX® yield results comparable to the radiological software iNtuition®.
Department of Surgery, Maastricht University Medical Center, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands. S.dello@AH.unimaas.nl
Simon A W G
SA
Dello
Jan H M B
JH
Stoot
Rogier S A
RS
van Stiphout
Johanne G
JG
Bloemen
Stephen J
SJ
Wigmore
Cornelis H C
CH
Dejong
Ronald M
RM
van Dam
D000368:Aged; D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted; D005260:Female; D006498:Hepatectomy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009929:Organ Size; D011300:Preoperative Care; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012984:Software; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed