Indocyanine green clearance test combined with MELD score in predicting the short-term prognosis of patients with acute liver failure

BACKGROUND: Acute liver failure(ALF) is an acute severe deterioration of liver function with high mortality. Early and accurate prognostic assessment of patients with ALF is critically important. Although the model for end-stage liver disease(MELD) scores and King’s College Hospital(KCH) criteria are well-accepted as predictive tools, their accuracy is unsatisfactory.The indocyanine green(ICG) clearance test(ICGR15, ICG retention rate at the 15 minutes) is a sensitive indicator of liver function. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of the ICGR15 for the short-term prognosis in patients with ALF. We compared the predictive value of ICGR15 with the MELD scores and KCH criteria.METHODS: Sixty-nine patients who had been diagnosed with ALF were recruited retrospectively. ICGR15 had been performed by ICG pulse spectrophotometry and relevant clinical and laboratory indices were analyzed within 24 hours of diagnosis.In addition, the MELD scores and KCH criteria were calculated.RESULTS: The three-month mortality of all patients was 47.83%.Age, serum total bilirubin and creatinine concentrations,international normalized ratio for prothrombin time, ICGR15,MELD scores and KCH criteria differed significantly between surviving and deceased patients. A positive correlation was observed between ICGR15 and MELD scores(r=0.328, P=0.006).The ICGR15-MELD model, Logit(P)=0.096×ICGR15+0.174 ×MELD score–9.346, was constructed by logistic regression analysis. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.855. When set the cut-off point to-0.4684, the sensitivity was 87.90% and specificity, 72.20%. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the ICGR15-MELD model(0.855) was significantly higher than that of the ICGR15(0.793), MELD scores(0.776) and KCH criteria(0.659).Based on this cut-off value, the patients were divided into two groups. The mortality was 74.36% in the first group(ICGR15-MELD≥-0.4686) and 13.33% in the second group(ICGR15-MELD<-0.4686), with a significant difference between the two groups(χ2=25.307, P=0.000).CONCLUSION: The ICGR15-MELD model is superior to the ICGR15, MELD scores, and KCH criteria in predicting the shortterm prognosis of patients with ALF.

Indocyanine green clearance in evaluating the recovery of liver reserve function after superselective transarterial chemoembolization

Transarterial chemoembolization(TACE)may ravage normal liver tissues apart from the neoplastic nodules which offset the anti-tumor effect.This study aimed to evaluate the recovery of liver reserve function(LRF)after TACE by indocyanine green(ICG)clearance test and other routine liver function tests.Forty-six newly diagnosed HCC patients who had undergone TACE as the initial treatment from January 2011 to January 2012 were enrolled in this study.The effects of age,basic ICG clearance rate and interval time between two assessments on the recovery of LRF were analyzed.We found that ICG retention rate at the 15 minutes(ICGR15)was significantly increased after TACE(12.3±8.1%vs 16.8±12.1%,P【0.01)in all the 46 patients.In particular,the ICGR15 value was increased in older patients(age】55 years,20.3±12.5%vs 13.7±7.2%,P【0.01).The interval of ICG test also affected the ICGR15 value(≤47days,17.8±11.4%after vs 12.1±7.1%before TACE,P【0.01).Our data suggested that TACE decreased LRF,especially in older patients.ICG test was more sensitive to evaluate the recovery of LRF after TACE than the Child-Pugh grade and routine liver function tests.

Indocyanine green plasma clearance rate and 99mTc-galactosyl human serum albumin single-photon emission computed tomography evaluated preoperative remnant liver

BACKGROUND Preoperative evaluation of future remnant liver reserves is important for safe hepatectomy.If the remnant is small,preoperative portal vein embolization(PVE)is useful.Liver volume analysis has been the primary method of preoperative evaluation,although functional examination may be more accurate.We have used the functional evaluation liver using the indocyanine green plasma clearance rate(KICG)and 99mTc-galactosyl human serum albumin single-photon emission computed tomography(99mTc-GSA SPECT)for safe hepatectomy.AIM To analyze the safety of our institution’s system for evaluating the remnant liver reserve.METHODS We retrospectively reviewed the records of 23 patients who underwent preoperative PVE.Two types of remnant liver KICG were defined as follows:Anatomical volume remnant KICG(a-rem-KICG),determined as the remnant liver anatomical volume rate×KICG;and functional volume remnant KICG(frem-KICG),determined as the remnant liver functional volume rate based on 99mTc-GSA SPECT×KICG.If either of the remnant liver KICGs were>0.05,a hepatectomy was performed.Perioperative factors were analyzed.We defined the marginal group as patients with a-rem-KICG of<0.05 and a f-rem-KICG of>0.05 and compared the postoperative outcomes between the marginal and not marginal(both a-rem-KICG and f-rem-KICG>0.05)groups.RESULTS All 23 patients underwent planned hepatectomies.Right hepatectomy,right trisectionectomy and left trisectionectomy were in 16,6 and 1 cases,respectively.The mean of blood loss and operative time were 576 mL and 474 min,respectively.The increased amount of frem-KICG was significantly larger than that of a-rem-KICG after PVE(0.034 vs 0.012,P=0.0273).The not marginal and marginal groups had 17(73.9%)and 6(26.1%)patients,respectively.The complications of Clavian-Dindo classification grade II or higher and post-hepatectomy liver failure were observed in six(26.1%)and one(grade A,4.3%)patient,respectively.The 90-d mortality was zero.The marginal group had no significant difference in postoperative outcomes(prothrombin time/international normalised ratio,total bilirubin,complication,post-hepatectomy liver failure,hospital stay,90-d,and mortality)compared with the not-marginal group.CONCLUSION Functional evaluation of the remnant liver enabled safe hepatectomy and may extend the indication for hepatectomy after PVE treatment.

Rapid measurement of indocyanine green retention by pulse spectrophotometry: a validation study in 70 patients with Child-Pugh A cirrhosis before hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND: The indocyanine green (ICG) retention test is the most popular liver function test for selecting patients for major hepatectomy. Traditionally, it is done using spectrophotometry with serial blood sampling. The newly- developed pulse spectrophotometry is a faster alternative, but its accuracy on Child-Pugh A cirrhotic patients undergoing hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma has not been well documented. This study aimed to assess the accuracy of the LiMON , one of the pulse spectrophotometry systems, in measuring preoperative ICG retention in these patients and to devise an easy formula for conversion of the results so that they can be compared with classical literature records where ICG retention was measured by the traditional method. METHODS: We measured the liver function of 70 Child-Pugh A cirrhotic patients before hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma from September 2008 to January 2009. ICG retention at 15 minutes measured by traditional spectrophotometry (ICGR15) was compared with ICG retention at 15 minutes measured by the LiMON (ICGR15(L)). RESULTS: The median ICGR15 was 14.7% (5.6%-32%) and the median ICGR15(L) was 10.4% (1.2%-28%). The mean difference between them was -4.3606. There was a strong correlation between ICGR15 and ICGR15(L) (correlation coefficient, 0.844; 95% confidence interval, 0.762-0.899). The following formula was devised: ICGR15=1.16×ICGR15(L)+2.73.CONCLUSIONS: The LiMON provides a fast and repeatable way to measure ICG retention at 15 minutes, but with constant underestimation of the real value. Therefore, when comparing results obtained by traditional spectrophotometry and the LiMON, adjustment of results from the latter is necessary, and this can be done with a simple mathematical calculation using the above formula.

Clinical value of predictive models based on liver stiffness measurement in predicting liver reserve function of compensated chronic liver disease

BACKGROUND Assessment of liver reserve function(LRF)is essential for predicting the prognosis of patients with chronic liver disease(CLD)and determines the extent of liver resection in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.AIM To establish noninvasive models for LRF assessment based on liver stiffness measurement(LSM)and to evaluate their clinical performance.METHODS A total of 360 patients with compensated CLD were retrospectively analyzed as the training cohort.The new predictive models were established through logistic regression analysis and were validated internally in a prospective cohort(132 patients).RESULTS Our study defined indocyanine green retention rate at 15 min(ICGR15)≥10%as mildly impaired LRF and ICGR15≥20%as severely impaired LRF.We constructed predictive models of LRF,named the mLPaM and sLPaM,which involved only LSM,prothrombin time international normalized ratio to albumin ratio(PTAR),age and model for end-stage liver disease(MELD).The area under the curve of the mLPaM model(0.855,0.872,respectively)and sLPaM model(0.869,0.876,respectively)were higher than that of the methods for MELD,albumin bilirubin grade and PTAR in the two cohorts,and their sensitivity and negative predictive value were the highest among these methods in the training cohort.In addition,the new models showed good sensitivity and accuracy for the diagnosis of LRF impairment in the validation cohort.CONCLUSION The new models had a good predictive performance for LRF and could replace the indocyanine green(ICG)clearance test,especially in patients who are unable to undergo ICG testing.

Preoperative Evaluation of Posthepatectomy Liver Failure Using MRI-Based Liver Function Indices in Child-Pugh Class A Patient

Purpose: To evaluate posthepatectomy liver failure (PHLF) using gadoxetic acid-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with a measure of relative liver enhancement (RLE) on hepatobiliary phase images, thereby facilitating safe liver resection. Methods: Twenty patients in Child-Pugh class A underwent tumor excision surgery and indocyanine green (ICG) clearance of future remnant liver (FRL) (ICG-Krem) values were >0.05. PHLF was evaluated using the grading system of the International Study Group of Liver Surgery (ISGLS). The RLE value was defined as the signal gain percentage between the precontrast and hepatocellular images. In the whole liver and FRL, theRLE value measured the tumor-free liver parenchyma in RLE images. We examined the correlation between indocyanine green clearance (ICG-K) and MRI-based liver function in the whole liver. Preoperative PHLF evaluation was predicted using remnant hepatocellular uptake index (rHUI), remnant RLE (rRLE), coefficient variation of Rrle [Cv(rRLE)], and ICG-Krem corrected by heterogeneous liver function(HLF-ICG-Krem). Results: HLF-ICG-Krem and rRLE values correlated with INRs after postoperative day five (r = -0.55 and 0.46, p = 0.01 and 0.04, respectively). Furthermore, HLF-ICG-Krem values ≤0.05 detected two patients with higher INRs after postoperative day five. On the other hand, neither rHUI nor Cv(rRLE) was correlated with INRs after postoperative day five (r = 0.28, and -0.03, respectively;p >0.05 for both). HLF-ICG-Krem was significantly lower with PHLF than without PHLF (p = 0.005). Conclusion: HLF-ICG-Krem is useful for evaluating PHLF more correctly.