Performance of International Standard Formulae in Predicting Liver Volume in Living Liver Donors

Background: Accurate estimation of liver volume before living donor liver transplantation is crucial to guarantee adequate metabolic demands for both graft and remaining liver. Multiple international formulae based on donor biometrics were developed to predict the total liver volume. However, their accuracy still needs validation.

Aim: Aim to assess the accuracy of 13 international standard formulae based on donor biometric data in predicting total liver volume as assessed by CT (CT-LV) among Egyptian population.

Methods: Data of 253 consecutive living liver donors were reviewed. Biometric data including weight, height, body mass index (BMI), and surface area (BSA) as well as CT-LV were recorded for each donor.

Results: One hundred fifty-four donors had complete biometric and volumetric data. Most of them were males (64.3%). The mean age was 28.3 ± 6.8 years, weight 72.3 ± 10.9 kg, height 168.6 ± 8.9 cm, BMI 25.8 ± 3.2 kg/m2 and BSA 1.8 ± 0.2 m2. Mean CT-LV was 1566.7 ± 272.3 ml. Although calculated liver volumes by all formulae had significant linear relationships with CT-LV (P<0.0001), none of them was accurate in predicting CT-LV (R2=0.230-0.264)

Conclusion: None of the studied formulae was accurate in predicting total liver volume among the studied population. This limited accuracy could be due to inter-individual, inter-racial and/or inter-ethnic variations in biometric data.