Liver damage is common in patients with tumor following chemotherapy. Although early liver damage causes no symptoms and is reversible in most patients, it occasionally progresses to more severe liver impairment, which may be irreversible, it is thus necessary to demonstrate the presence and severity of drug-related parenchymal changes. At present, the liver function test [alanine aminotransferase (ALT)] is the main index in diagnosis of drug-induced hepatic damage. However, the ALT value is found a less sensitive index and perhaps cannot thoroughly reflect hepatic toxicity. This emphasizes the need for effective imaging to demonstrate the presence and severity of drug-related parenchymal changes. Perfusion computed tomography (CT) is a noninvasive method showing hemodynamic changes in living tissue and has been used in the evaluation of liver diseases. However, the microcirculation changes of the liver with perfusion CT during chemotherapy have not been described.
A research team from China investigated the hemodynamic changes in liver during chemotherapy, and estimated the correlation between the perfusion CT parameters and ALT level. Their study will be published on July 7, 2010 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology.
Three perfusion CT parameters of hepatic perfusion index (HPI), mean transit time (MTT) and permeability-surface area product (PS) were compared among controls, patients and subgroups. The correlations among perfusion parameters, treatment cycle and ALT value were calculated. The study revealed significantly increased HPI and MTT in patients undergoing 2 cycles of chemotherapy and increased HPI in patients with hepatic steatosis, as well as treatment cycle well correlated with HPI and MTT.
The findings of this study underscore the possibility of using perfusion CT parameters as indicators of hepatic microcirculation alteration in drug-induced liver damage. Perfusion CT may be used as a noninvasive tool in diagnosing hepatic toxicity.
Reference: Zhang Q, Yuan ZG, Wang DQ, Yan ZH, Tang J, Liu ZQ. Perfusion CT findings in liver of patients with tumor during chemotherapy. World J Gastroenterol 2010; 16(25): 3202-3205
http://www.wjgnet.com/1007-9327/full/v16/i25/3202.htm
Correspondence to: Zuo-Qin Liu, Professor, Department of Interventional Radiology, Shandong Medical Imaging Research Institute, Shandong University, 324#, Jingwu Road, Jinan 250021, Shandong Province, China. [email protected]
About World Journal of Gastroenterology
World Journal of Gastroenterology (WJG), a leading international journal in gastroenterology and hepatology, has established a reputation for publishing first class research on esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, liver cancer, viral hepatitis, colorectal cancer, and H. pylori infection and provides a forum for both clinicians and scientists. WJG has been indexed and abstracted in Current Contents/Clinical Medicine, Science Citation Index Expanded (also known as SciSearch) and Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition, Index Medicus, MEDLINE and PubMed, Chemical Abstracts, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, Abstracts Journals, Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology and Hepatology, CAB Abstracts and Global Health. ISI JCR 2009 IF: 2.092. WJG is a weekly journal published by WJG Press. The publication dates are the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th day of every month. WJG is supported by The National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 30224801 and No. 30424812, and was founded with the name of China National Journal of New Gastroenterology on October 1, 1995, and renamed WJG on January 25, 1998.
