Potential of the albumin-bilirubin score to predict the hepatic parenchymal contrast enhancement in the portal phase of abdominal dynamic contrast-enhanced multi-detector computed tomography in patients with liver cirrhosis

The albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) score was recently used to predict hepatic reserve. This score is a continuous variable that is used to determine cutoff values and is easily calculated from albumin and bilirubin levels alone. Thus, we aimed to investigate whether the ALBI score could predict a decreased hepatic parenchymal contrast enhancement (HPCE) during the portal phase of dynamic multi-detector computed tomography in patients with liver cirrhosis (LC). We retrospectively investigated Pearson's correlation between the HPCE and ALBI score in 26 patients diagnosed with liver cirrhosis. We classified the patients into those with HPCE < 50 HU or >= 50 HU and investigated whether the ALBI score differed significantly between these two groups. Furthermore, we used receiver operating characteristic curve analysis to determine the appropriate cutoff value of ALBI score for predicting LC patients with HPCE < 50 HU and ascertained the related area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity. The HPCE and ALBI score correlated significantly (r = -0.496, P = 0.0098). The ALBI score differed significantly between groups with HPCE < 50 HU and >= 50 HU (P = 0.0012). The cutoff value of the ALBI score for detecting LC patients with HPCE < 50 HU was -2.14, with an AUC, sensitivity, and specificity of 0.906, 83%, and 87%, respectively. In conclusion, the ALBI score is related to the HPCE during the portal phase in LC patients, and a cutoff value of ALBI score of -2.14 can predict the HPCE < 50 HU in LC patients.