Argus versus manual methods to measure live volume of living liver transplant donors

Objective To investigate the feasibility of measuring liver volume with Argus methoct Methods Thirty-two healthy liver transplant donor candidates underwent liver MRI on a 3.0 T MR unit.Volume interpolated body examination(VIBE)was performed after the administration of gadobenate dimeglumine.The VIBE data was transferred to the diagnostic workstation,and then multiple planar reconstruction(MPR)images were acquired.Firstly.two observers manually drawn the liver shape and calculated three volumes:the whole liver volume and right lobes volumes include middle hepatic vein (MHV)and exclude MHV,respectively.Secondly,the same data was transferred to Argus software.calculated that three volumes.Each measurement time was recorded.Actual graft volume(the right lobe)wag measured during surgery.The correlation between right lobes volume of two measurements and actual graft volume was analyzed.The time needed for Argus and that needed for manual method were compared with paired t test.Results The right lobe volumes measured by Argus,manually and surgery method were (813±187),(807 ± 181)and(713 ± 137)mm3,respectively.Argus method and manual method showed good correlation with surgery method,and the correlation coefficients were 0.897(Argus method)and 0.884(manual method),respectively.The time for manual method and Argu8 method were(44.3 ±2.7)and(12.2.±1.0)min,respectively.There was significant difference between Argus and manual methods (t=76.39,P＜0.05).Conclusion Compared with manual method,use of the Liver volumetric measurement by Argus software not only correlated well with Actual graft volume,but also saves time.Argus has potential clinical value for volumetric measurement in living liver transplant donors. Key words: Liver transplantation; Organ size; Living donors; Comparative study