Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2018. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Surg. Feb 27, 2018; 10(2): 21-27
Published online Feb 27, 2018. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v10.i2.21
Perioperative liver and spleen elastography in patients without chronic liver disease
Sam Eriksson, Hanna Borsiin, Carl-Fredrik Öberg, Hannes Brange, Zoran Mijovic, Christian Sturesson
Sam Eriksson, Hanna Borsiin, Carl-Fredrik Öberg, Hannes Brange, Christian Sturesson, Department of Surgery, Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, Lund S-221 85, Sweden
Zoran Mijovic, Department of Radiology, Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, Lund S-221 85, Sweden
Author contributions: Eriksson S contributed with methodology, data analysis, data presentation and writing of an original draft of the manuscript; Borsiin H, Öberg CF and Brange H contributed with project administration, data acquisition and data analysis; Mijovic Z contributed with methodology; Sturesson C contributed with conceptualization, methodology and supervision; all authors conducted critical revisions and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Regional Ethical Review Board Lund.
Informed consent statement: All study participants provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available for sharing.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Christian Sturesson, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Surgeon, Department of Surgery, Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, Lund S-221 85, Sweden. christian.sturesson@med.lu.se
Telephone: +46-46-172347 Fax: +46-46-172335
Received: November 2, 2017
Peer-review started: November 2, 2017
First decision: December 6, 2017
Revised: January 14, 2018
Accepted: February 6, 2018
Article in press: February 6, 2018
Published online: February 27, 2018
Processing time: 115 Days and 20.6 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Surgical resection offers a potential cure for both primary liver tumors and liver metastases. The risk of postoperative liver failure is the most important factor for postoperative mortality and limits the size of the resection. An otherwise healthy liver can withstand a larger resection than a liver with parenchymal damage, which requires a larger liver remnant to ensure sufficient postoperative liver function. Liver elastography implies reporting metrics related to the mechanical stiffness of the liver. Liver elastography is most frequently used to non-invasively quantify the degree of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic liver disease. Changes in perioperative liver stiffness in patients without chronic liver disease undergoing liver resection for tumors have not been investigated.

Research motivation

Postoperative liver failure has high morbidity and mortality rates and early detection is of great interest to rapidly initiate treatment measures. There is currently no good method for its early diagnosis and signs of liver failure are first detected several days after surgery when patients develop high bilirubin and international normalized ratio values.

Research objectives

The current study aimed to investigate the changes in hepatic and splenic stiffness during liver resection for hepatic tumors in patients without chronic liver disease; and to investigate effects of preoperative chemotherapy on tissue stiffness and its relation to early postoperative biochemistry with the aim to detect postoperative liver failure.

Research methods

Tissue stiffness measurements on liver and spleen were conducted before and two days after liver resection for hepatic tumors using point shear-wave elastography (SWE). Patients were divided into groups depending on size of resection and whether they had received preoperative chemotherapy or not.

Research results

The stiffness of the liver remnant increased by 42% as measured with point SWE in patients who underwent a major resection. In patients who underwent a minor resection, no change in liver stiffness was found. The spleen stiffness increased by 16% after a major resection, more than after a minor resection. In patients undergoing preoperative chemotherapy, no differences in liver or spleen stiffness were found. Remnant liver stiffness on the second postoperative day did not show strong correlations with maximum postoperative increase in bilirubin and international normalized ratio.

Research conclusions

Liver and spleen stiffness increase after a major liver resection for hepatic tumors in patients without chronic liver disease. The potential of point SWE in the detection of chemotherapy induced liver damage and postoperative liver failure needs further investigation.

Research perspectives

Point SWE measurements may play a role in the early detection of liver failure; however, further study is needed on the dynamics of normal and pathological liver stiffness after liver resection.