CT-Based Prediction of Liver Function and Post-PVE Hypertrophy Using an Artificial Neural Network

Journal of Clinical Medicine, vol. 10, pp. 3079

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to evaluate whether hypertrophy after portal vein embolization (PVE) and maximum liver function capacity (LiMAx) are predictable by an artificial neural network (ANN) model based on computed tomography (CT) texture features. Methods: We report a retrospective analysis on 118 patients undergoing preoperative assessment by CT before and after PVE for subsequent extended liver resection due to a malignant tumor at RWTH Aachen University Hospital. The LiMAx test was carried out in a subgroup of 55 patients prior to PVE. Associations between CT texture features and hypertrophy as well as liver function were assessed by a multilayer perceptron ANN model. Results: Liver volumetry showed a median hypertrophy degree of 33.9% (16.5–60.4%) after PVE. Non-response, defined as a hypertrophy grade lower than 25%, was found in 36.5% (43/118) of the cases. The ANN prediction of the hypertrophy response showed a sensitivity of 95.8%, specificity of 44.4% and overall prediction accuracy of 74.6% (p < 0.001). The observed median LiMAx was 327 (248–433) μg/kg/h and was strongly correlated with the predicted LiMAx (R2 = 0.89). Conclusion: Our study shows that an ANN model based on CT texture features is able to predict the maximum liver function capacity and may be useful to assess potential hypertrophy after performing PVE.

Authors 10

1. Daniel Heise corresponding Aachen Department of Surgery and Transplantation

   Universitätsklinikum Aachen · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Surgery and Transplantation, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, 52074 Aachen, Germany

2. Maximilian Franz Schulze-Hagen Aachen Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology

   Universitätsklinikum Aachen · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, RWTH Aachen University Hospital, 52074 Aachen, Germany

3. Jan Bednarsch Aachen Department of Surgery and Transplantation

   Universitätsklinikum Aachen · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Surgery and Transplantation, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, 52074 Aachen, Germany

4. Roman Eickhoff Aachen Department of Surgery and Transplantation

   Universitätsklinikum Aachen · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Surgery and Transplantation, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, 52074 Aachen, Germany

5. Andreas Kroh Aachen Department of Surgery and Transplantation

   Universitätsklinikum Aachen · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Surgery and Transplantation, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, 52074 Aachen, Germany

6. Philipp Bruners Aachen Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology

   Universitätsklinikum Aachen · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, RWTH Aachen University Hospital, 52074 Aachen, Germany

7. Simon Bodo Eickhoff

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf, 40225 Duesseldorf, Germany

   Research Center Juelich, Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain & Behaviour (INM-7), 52074 Juelich, Germany

8. Ralph Brecheisen

   Maastricht University Medical Centre

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Surgery, Maastricht University Medical Centre (MUMC), 6229 Maastricht, The Netherlands

9. Florian Ulmer Aachen Department of Surgery and Transplantation

   Universitätsklinikum Aachen · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Surgery and Transplantation, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, 52074 Aachen, Germany

10. Ulf P. Neumann Aachen Department of Surgery and Transplantation

    Maastricht University Medical Centre · Universitätsklinikum Aachen · RWTH Aachen University

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Surgery and Transplantation, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, 52074 Aachen, Germany

    Department of Surgery, Maastricht University Medical Centre (MUMC), 6229 Maastricht, The Netherlands