Abstract: Objective To investigate the value of computed tomographic (CT) perfusion imaging in the evaluation of liver reserve function before transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) intervention on liver cancer.Methods A total of 68 patients with primary liver cancer admitted to our hospital from January to February 2018 were enrolled. All patients underwent CT perfusion imaging 3 days before TACE. The hepatic arterial perfusion (HAP), portal venous perfusion (PVP), total liver perfusion (TLP) and hepatic arterial perfusion index (HAPI) were compared between normal liver tissue and tumor tissue, among patients with different Child-Pugh grades, and the correlation between perfusion parameters and Child-Pugh classification was analyzed. Results The HAP and HAPI of normal liver tissue were (30.10 ± 8.69) ml/min/100 ml and (22.01 ± 5.03)%, respectively, which were significantly lower than those of tumor tissue[(81.47 ± 19.86) ml/min/100 ml, (69.85 ± 15.41)%, P<0.05]. The PVP and TLP were (80.52 ± 18.27) ml/min/100 ml and (148.10 ± 31.11) ml/min/100 ml, respectively, which were significantly higher than those of tumor tissue [(40.01 ± 9.88) ml/min/100 ml, (123.10 ± 26.49) ml/min/100 ml, P<0.05]. The HAPI of Child-Pugh grade A patients was significantly lower than that of grade B patients, and the PVP and TLP of grade A patients were significantly higher than those of grade B patients (P<0.05). Spearman correlation analysis showed no significant correlation between the HAP and Child-Pugh classification (r=0.119, P=0.367). The HAPI was positively correlated with Child-Pugh classification (r=0.442, P=0.002). The PVP and TLP were negatively correlated with Child-Pugh classification (r=-0.550, P<0.001; r=-0.489, P<0.001).Conclusion CT perfusion imaging can quantitatively reflect the hemodynamic changes of patients with different Child-Pugh grades, and evaluate the liver reserve function of patients, which can provide reference for preoperative evaluation of TACE and prediction of surgical outcomes.

Key words: Computed tomographic perfusion imaging, Liver cancer, Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization, Liver reserve function