Measurement of liver volume using spiral CT and the curved line and cubic spline algorithms: reproducibility and interobserver variation

Background: The purpose of this article was to evaluate the accuracy and re producibility of spiral computed tomography (CT) and the curved line and cu bic spline algorithms in measuring liver volume. Methods: Spiral CT was performed in phantoms, cadaveric liver specimens, an d 35 live human subjects (19 healthy volunteers and 16 patients). Images we re transferred to a workstation, and volumes were measured by two observers . One observer repeated the measurements at a separate sitting. Results: The correlation between the CT measurement and the gold standard m easurement of the cadaveric livers was very strong (r = 0.94). For the live human subjects, the intraobserver and interobserver correlations were extr emely high (r = 0.999 and 0.997, respectively). The mean difference in live r volume measurements between the separate observations was 1%. Conclusion: The accuracy and reproducibility of this method of assessing li ver volume are very high.