DIAGNOSIS OF ALCOHOLIC CIRRHOSIS WITH THE RIGHT-TO-LEFT HEPATIC LOBE RATIO - CONCISE COMMUNICATION

  • 1 January 1981
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 22  (2) , 116-119
Abstract
Since scans of cirrhotic livers show a reduction in size and colloid uptake of right lobe, a quantitative measure of uptake was made using a minicomputer to determine total counts in regions of interest defined over each lobe. Right-to-left ratios were compared in 103 patients. For normal patients, mean ratio .+-. 1 SD was 2.85 .+-. 0.65, and the mean for patients with known cirrhosis was 1.08 .+-. 0.33. Patients with other liver diseases had ratios similar to normal group. Normal range of right-to-left lobe ratio was 1.55-4.15. Sensitivity of the ratio for alcoholic cirrhosis was 85.7% and specificity was 100% in this patient population. Right-to-left lobe ratio was more sensitive and specific for alcoholic cirrhosis than any other criterion tested. A hypothesis was described to explain these results.

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