Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39379241›Full record

ArticleAcademic radiology2025

Fully Automated and Explainable Measurement of Liver Surface Nodularity in CT: Utility for Staging Hepatic Fibrosis.

Tejas Sudharshan Mathai, Meghan G Lubner, Perry J Pickhardt, Ronald M Summers

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Academic radiology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. [Chinese guidelines for clinical diagnosis, treatment, and management of cirrhosis (2025)].Zhonghua gan zang bing za zhi = Zhonghua ganzangbing zazhi = Chinese journal of hepatology · 2025
    Guideline
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Tejas Sudharshan MathaiNational Institutes of Health Clinical Center, Building 10 Room 1C224, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-1182, USA (T.S.M., R.M.S.). Electronic address: tejas.mathai@nih.gov.
Meghan G LubnerUniversity of Wisconsin School of Medicine & Public Health (M.G.L., P.J.P.). Electronic address: mlubner@uwhealth.org.
Perry J PickhardtUniversity of Wisconsin School of Medicine & Public Health (M.G.L., P.J.P.). Electronic address: PPickhardt2@uwhealth.org.
Ronald M SummersNational Institutes of Health Clinical Center, Building 10 Room 1C224, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-1182, USA (T.S.M., R.M.S.). Electronic address: rms@nih.gov.

Funding

Computer Aided Detection for Radiologic ImagesZ01CL040004 · CLC · CLINICAL CENTER · PI SUMMERS, RONALD M. · 2003 to 2008
$41k
Computer Aided Detection for Radiologic ImagesZIACL040004 · CLC · CLINICAL CENTER · PI SUMMERS, RONALD M. · 2009 to 2025
$0k
Intramural NIH HHS Z01 CL040004Intramural NIH HHS Z99 CL999999
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

RATIONALE AND

objectivesIn the United States, cirrhosis was the 12th leading cause of death in 2016. Despite end-stage cirrhosis being irreversible, earlier stages of hepatic fibrosis can be reversed via early diagnosis and intervention. The objective is to investigate the utility of a fully automated technique to measure liver surface nodularity (LSN) for staging hepatic fibrosis (stages F0-F4). MATERIALS AND

methodsIn this retrospective study, a dataset consisting of patients with multiple etiologies of liver disease collected at Institution-A (METAVIR F0-F4, 2000-2016) was used. The LSN was automatically measured in contrast-enhanced CT volumes and compared against scores from a manual tool. Area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC) was used to distinguish between clinically significant fibrosis (≥ F2), advanced fibrosis (≥F3), and end-stage cirrhosis (F4).

resultsThe study sample had 480 patients (304 men, 176 women, mean age, 49±9). Automatically derived LSN scores progressively increased with the fibrosis stage: F0 (1.64 [mean]±1.13 [standard deviation]), F1 (2.16±2.39), F2 (2.17±2.55), F3 (2.23±2.52), and F4 (4.21±2.94). For discriminating significant fibrosis (≥F2), advanced fibrosis (≥F3), and cirrhosis (F4), the automated tool achieved ROC AUCs of 73.9%, 82.5%, and 87.8% respectively. The sensitivity and specificity for significant fibrosis (nodularity threshold 1.51) was 85.2% and 73.3%, advanced fibrosis (nodularity threshold 1.73) was 84.2% and 79.5%, and cirrhosis (nodularity threshold 2.18) was 86.5% and 79.5%. Statistical tests revealed that the automated LSN scores distinguished patients with advanced fibrosis (p<.001) and cirrhosis (p<.001).

conclusionThe fully automated LSN measurement retained its predictive power for distinguishing between advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis. The clinical impact is that the fully automated LSN measurement may be useful for early interventions and population-based studies. It can automatically predict the fibrosis stage in ∼45 s in comparison to the ∼2 min needed to manually measure the LSN in a CT volume.

Indexed as

Liver CirrhosisRadiographic Image Interpretation, Computer-AssistedTomography, X-Ray ComputedAdultContrast MediaFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedRetrospective StudiesSensitivity and SpecificityContrast Media

Identifiers

PMID39379241
PMCPMC11875990

What Socratic holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.