OBJECTIVETo establish a favorable formula of estimation adult standard liver volume (SLV) based on the data of living donors for liver transplantation.

METHODSFrom March 2005 to December 2007, 90 Adult-to-Adult living donor liver transplantation were performed. The donors' anthropometric data of gender, year, body weight and body height was collected prospectively. The total liver volume (TLV) of 90 living donors was measured by computed tomography. The correlation between TLV and several factors including body weight index (BMI) and body surface area (BSA) were analyzed. Then multiple stepwise linear regression analysis was performed and a new equation predicting SLV to improve approximate TLV was determined. TLV was then compared with the estimation standard liver volume (ESLV) calculated using our formula and published formulas in literature previously.

RESULTSAll the subjects had a mean body weight of (62.4 +/- 8.7) kg. The mean total liver volume was (1319.1 +/- 167.0) ml. There were positively correlated between TLV and body weight (BW), which could be expressed in the equation: TLV (ml) = 12.5 x BW (kg) + 536.4 (r(2) = 0.43, P < 0.01). Compared TLV with ELSV, which were calculated using previously published formulas based on the anthropometric data of the 90 subjects, the difference was be statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONA new simple formula is established that might be a more suitable to calculate TLV in Chinese adults.