Prognostic judgment of fulminant hepatitis by measurement of hepatosplenic volume ratio by computed tomography

: The liver and spleen volume ratio (S/L ratio) was estimated with X-ray computed tomography and evaluated by comparison with the prognosis in 10 patients with fulminant hepatitis. S/L ratio of control group (n = 10) was 0.122 +/- 0.026 (mean +/- SD), that of the alive group with fulminant hepatitis (n = 5) was 0.112 +/- 0.021, and that of the dead group (n = 5) was 0.308 +/- 0.136. There is a significant difference between S/L ratio of control group and that of the dead group with fulminant hepatitis. The rise of S/L ratio on the patients with fulminant hepatitis reflects the liver atrophy or splenomegaly and the prognosis was poor. The prognosis of the patients with fulminant hepatitis, whose S/L ratio indicated the near value of control group, was good. The measurement of S/L ratio by computed tomography was considered to be useful to evaluate the prognosis of fulminant hepatitis.