Estimation of standard liver volume in Japanese living liver donors

Background: Standard liver volume (SLV) is an important concept in adult living liver donor transplantation. The purpose of this study was to re-evaluate and modify the authors' previous formula for predicting total liver volume (TLV). Methods: The TLV of 301 Japanese living donors was measured by computed tomography. This TLV was then compared with the liver volume calculated using established formulas. The correlation between TLV and several factors including body surface area (BSA) were analyzed and a new equation (SLVn) to better approximate TLV was determined. Factors related to the difference between TLV and SLVn were examined. Results: Average TLV was 1196.3 +/- 221.0 cm(3). Urata's formula underestimated TLV by 17.6 cm(3) and the other formulas overestimated it by 120.4-244.9 cm(3). TLV could be approximated by BSA; SLVn (cm(3)) = -404.8 + 961.3 x BSA (m(2), R-2 = 0.58). SLVn tended to overestimate the TLV of older donors and to underestimate TLV of thin donors. Conclusion: A new simple formula is presented that might be a better fit for calculating TLV in Japanese adults. This formula might be useful for evaluating the size of an adequate graft.