ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The liver mass, made up of independent functional units called acini, correlates with liver functions. Hepatic morphological changes causing alteration in its size and volume occur in various hepatic disorders. METHODS: Antemortem clinical liver span and postmortem liver weight was studied in 23 critically ill patients. Out of these, 8 had fulminant hepatic failure, 7 had chronic liver disease with encephalopathy and 8 had other serious illnesses (chronic renal failure 3; ischaemic heart disease 3; cerebrovascular accidents 2). We also studied postmortem liver span and liver weight in 173 healthy individuals dying of accident/terrorist attacks. RESULTS: Antemortem liver span in 23 critically ill patients was 9.9 +/- 4.7 cm (mean +/- S.D.) and postmortem liver weight was 1536.9 +/- 704.7 g (mean +/- S.D.). Antemortem liver span correlated well with the postmortem liver weight (r = 0.9635). Postmortem liver span in 173 healthy individuals was 16.3 +/- 2.7 cm (mean +/- S.D.) and liver weight was 1301.5 +/- 358.8 g (mean +/- S.D.). There was very good correlation between the postmortem liver span and liver weight (r = 0.516), height (r = 0.410) and body weight (r = 0.340) in these individuals. CONCLUSION: Liver span fortells the liver weight, hence, the functional liver mass in diseased and healthy individuals.