Computed tomography–based gastric volumetry for morbid obesity to assess weight loss and fatty liver change

Abstract

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) is an effective treatment for patients with morbid obesity, but the optimal gastric volume (GV) for resection remains unclear. Accordingly, we aimed to determine the optimal percentage of excised stomach that could engender significant weight loss and improve fatty liver. METHODS: This prospective study included 63 patients. Computed tomography (CT) scans were performed before and 1 year after LSG to evaluate the gastric lumen (GL) and GV. Specifically, the stomach was distended with effervescent powder, following water-contrast mixture (20:1) and assessed by three-dimensional reconstruction. The correlations of reduced gastric lumen/volume (RGL/RGV) with total body weight (BW) loss and liver-spleen density ratio (LSDR) changes were analyzed, and optimal RGL/RGV associated with significant BW and fatty liver changes were determined. RESULTS: We noted a positive correlation between the percentage of RGV/RGL (%RGV/%RGL) and percentage of total weight loss (%TWL; r = 0.359, p = 0.004 and r = 0.271, p = 0.032). Furthermore, a %RGL value of >78.2% and %RGV value of >75.3% were associated with more significant BW loss than did limited excision (both p < 0.01). On the other hand, LSDR values increased significantly after LSG, corresponding to the improvement of fatty liver disease at %RGL and %RGV values of >59.1% and >56.4% (both p < 0.01), respectively. CONCLUSION: %RGV and %RGL were determined to be factors affecting LSG outcomes. LSG engendered significantly more BW loss when %RGV was >75.3% and resulted in fatty liver disease improvement when %RGV was >56.4%.