Abstract: Objective To predict the occurrence of postoperative liver dysfunction in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by using gadolinium ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (EOB-MRI) to measure and evaluate the related indexes of residual liver.Methods A total of 72 patients with HCC who underwent partial hepatectomy in our hospital from May 2013 to December 2018 were included. The relative enhancement of liver (RE), total liver volume (TLV), standard liver volume (SLV) and functional residual liver volume (FRLV) were measured and calculated by EOB-MRI. The general clinical data and perioperative data of the patients were recorded. Normally distributed data was expressed as mean±standard error, and analyzed by Student’s t-tests. Non-parametric data was expressed as median (interquartile range), and analyzed by Mann-Whitney U test. Categorical data was presented as percentage, and analyzed using Chi-square test for comparison between groups. Logistic stepwise regression model was used for multivariate analysis. Results Among the 72 HCC patients, 9 had liver dysfunction and 63 did not. Univariate analysis showed that preoperative aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (P<0.05), RE (P<0.05) and FRLV (P<0.05) were closely related to the occurrence of postoperative liver dysfunction. They were entered into logistic stepwise regression model, and FRLV was found to be the only independent risk factor for postoperative liver dysfunction (OR=0.572, P<0.05). Conclusion FRLV measured by EOB-MRI has predictive value for postoperative liver dysfunction in patients with HCC.

Key words: Hepatocellular carcinoma, Gadolinium ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid, Functional residual liver volume, Liver enhancement