Liver regeneration in dogs after CPSS surgery

Abstract

Abstract Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate macroscopic liver regeneration after congenital portosystemic shunt (CPSS) surgery and determine a possible connection with clinical outcome. We also wanted to compare MRI and CT as technique for liver volumetry. Methods: MRI and/or CT scans were made before and on day 8, 1 month and 2 months after surgery. Liver surface areas were measured and liver volumes were calculated using the images. Results: Liver growth was the strongest in the period between day 0 and day 8, with decreasing growth afterwards. No significant difference was found in growth rate for dogs who had completely recovered and dogs that had not. Measurements made on MRI images and on CT images correlated well (R2=0.94), but a significant difference was found (P=0.0094). On average, volumes estimated from MRI scans were 7.5% larger than volumes estimated from CT scans. Conclusion: We have not been able to find a difference in post-operative liver growth between dogs that recovered completely and dogs that still showed subclinical persistent shunting. In addition, our data suggested that using CT scans for volume estimation is more accurate than using MRI scans. Key words: Computed tomography; hepatic size; magnetic resonance imaging; portosystemic shunt; volumetry