CORRELATION BETWEEN CLINICAL EVALUATION OF LIVER SIZE VERSUS ULTRASONOGRAPHY EVALUATION ACCORDING TO BODY MASS INDEX (BMI) AND BIOTYPES.

Resumen

Background: There are reports that body weight influences liver size. Aim: To determine the correlation between clinical and ultrasound evaluation of the liver size according to BMI and biotypes. Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted for patients over 18 years old. Two percussion measurements were taken and the ultrasonography was performed on the same site demarcated by percussion. Results: Eighty-one individuals were evaluated; 43 (53.1%) were females, mean age 25 years (SD±6). Mean BMI was 23 kg/m² (SD±4). When a BMI of 25kg/m² was used as a cutoff point, 19 individuals (23.5%) reached values greater than or equal to 25, and 37 (45.7%) patients were longilinear. There was a statistically significant difference between the values of liver size obtained by clinical and ultrasound method. Pearson’s correlation coefficient between the liver size obtained by clinical and ultrasound method was 0.419 (p<0.01). There was no statistically significant difference between liver measurements when stratified by a cutoff point of BMI. When individuals with BMI greater than or equal to 25 were assessed, there was a statistically significant difference between the means obtained by both methods (p=0.001). In this group of individuals, the correlation between the two methods showed a Pearson’s correlation coefficient of 0.035. In the group of subjects with BMI less than 25, there was a statistically significant difference between the mean values obtained by both methods (p=0.000), but the correlation between the two methods in this group showed a Pearson’s correlation coefficient of 0.473 (p<0.01). Conclusion: The liver size measured by clinical examination correlates well with ultrasound method, but underestimates the actual liver size in adults. In subjects with BMI above 25, the correlation between the two techniques was not good and it can be inferred that for this group of patients the clinical method is less accurate.