title: Assessing splenic enlargement on CT by unidimensional measurement changes in patients with colorectal liver metastases.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to assess splenic volume and to correlate unidimensional measurements with reference volumetric changes in chemotherapy-treated patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) liver metastases.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty consecutive patients were selected from the cohort of a previously reported study of chemotherapy-related morbidity following major hepatectomy for CRC liver metastases. Patients were treated for 6 months prior to resection, with imaging performed at baseline and after 6 months of chemotherapy. Three unidimensional spleen measurements were recorded-width, thickness, and height (W, T, and H). Reference splenic volume was measured at baseline and after chemotherapy. The best unidimensional splenic measurement was determined by regression analysis. The 95% CI for the predicted values and R (2) values was calculated for each regression. The percentage of volume increase at 6 months was calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  W and H showed the highest correlation with splenic volume prior to and following chemotherapy (R (2) = 0.65-0.74, p < 0.001), while T showed a low correlation (R (2) = 0.11 and 0.18, p < 0.05). The mean reference splenic volume increased after 6 months of chemotherapy compared to baseline (326 vs. 278 mL). Splenic volume changes showed the highest correlation with changes in W (R (2) = 0.56, p < 0.001), then H (R (2) = 0.40, p < 0.001), but were not significantly correlated with changes in T (R (2) = 0.01, p = 0.055).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results show the potential utility of measuring changes in splenic width to predict clinically significant changes in splenic volume in chemotherapy-treated patients with CRC liver metastases.
authors.affiliation: Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education, The City College of New York, 160 Convent Ave, New York, NY, 10031, USA.
authors.forename: Breanna J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Joiner
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Ave, New York, NY, 10065, USA.|Department of Radiology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Ave, New York, NY, 10065, USA.
authors.forename: Amber L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Simpson
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Ave, New York, NY, 10065, USA.
authors.forename: Julie N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Leal
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Ave, New York, NY, 10065, USA.
authors.forename: Michael I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: D'Angelica
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Ave, New York, NY, 10065, USA. dok@mskcc.org.
authors.forename: Richard K G
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Do
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009929:Organ Size; D013154:Spleen / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D013163:Splenomegaly / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
keywords: CT imaging; Chemotherapy; Colorectal cancer liver metastases; Hepatectomy; Splenic volume; Splenomegaly