title: Area between the hepatic and heart curves of (99m)Tc-galactosyl-human serum albumin scintigraphy represents liver function and disease progression for preoperative evaluation in hepatocellular carcinoma patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We developed software to calculate the pixels of interest in the area between the hepatic and heart curves (ABC) of (99m)Tc-galactosyl human serum albumin (GSA) scintigraphy. The aim of this study was to examine the accuracy of the ABC to evaluate liver function before hepatectomy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between January 2005 and December 2010, 205 consecutive patients who underwent initial hepatectomy were enrolled in this study. The ABC was calculated using original computer software. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was calculated for evaluation of Child-Pugh score grade B (Child B), pathological chronic hepatitis (CH), and liver cirrhosis (LC).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The AUC of any indicator for Child B was more than 0.900 except bilirubin. The AUC of ABC for CH and LC (AUC 0.734 each) was comparable to those of HH15 (clearance index; AUC 0.704 and 0.700, respectively) and LHL15 (receptor index; AUC 0.703 and 0.706, respectively) in multiple receiver operating characteristic comparison.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We have developed a novel liver function indicator, the ABC, to count radioactivity in sequence. The ABC reflects liver function according to pathological deterioration of the liver. Although the ABC gave no significant advantage compared to HH15 and LHL15, it improved the AUC evaluation by 0.028-0.034.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery I, Sapporo Medical University Hospital, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, S-1, W-16, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-8543, Japan.
authors.forename: Kohei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Harada
authors.forename: Toru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mizuguchi
authors.forename: Yoshimi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Katagiri
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kawamoto
authors.forename: Yukio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Meguro
authors.forename: Shigenori
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ota
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Miyanishi
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sonoda
authors.forename: Mitsuru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.forename: Yasuhisa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shinomura
authors.forename: Junji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hirata
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006498:Hepatectomy; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000601:surgery; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism*; D057234:Preoperative Period; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000378:metabolism*; D013668:Technetium Tc 99m Aggregated Albumin / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012709:Serum Albumin; D013668:Technetium Tc 99m Aggregated Albumin