Accuracy of indocyanine green pulse spectrophotometry clearance test for liver function prediction in transplanted patients

AIM: To investigate whether the non-invasive real-time Indocyanine green (ICG) clearance is a sensitive index of liver viability in patients before, during, and after liver transplantation. METHODS: Thirteen patients were studied, two before, three during, and eight following liver transplantation, with two patients suffering acute rejection. The conventional invasive ICG clearance test and ICG pulse spectrophotometry non-invasive real-time ICG clearance test were performed simultaneously. Using linear regression analysis we tested the correlation between these two methods. The transplantation condition of these patients and serum total bilirubin (T. Bil), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and platelet count were also evaluated. RESULTS: The correlation between these two methods was excellent (r(2)=0.977). CONCLUSION: ICG pulse spectrophotometry clearance is a quick, non-invasive, and reliable liver function test in transplantation patients.