An investigation of the variations in normal liver shape.

Abstract

The case histories of 3,500 patients who received a rectilinear liver scan or gamma-camera liver scintigram were reviewed to locate those who subsequently died and received a post-mortem and those who were referred for surgery after the isotope investigation. The 125 scans and scintigrams of the proven normal livers were then used to classify variations in normal liver shape. The classifications were based upon the shapes of the superior and inferior liver margins. A table was constructed to describe the incidence of normal liver shapes in terms of these margins. The most frequently occurring shapes were found to be S-shape (45½ per cent) and concave (32 per cent) for the superior border and triangular (71 per cent) for the inferior border.