ObjectiveTo explore the feasibility of using various imaging methods to establish the correlation between the severity of cirrhosis and gynecomastia in elderly men.

MethodsA total of 123 elderly male patients with liver cirrhosis aged >60 years were selected as the research object.The Child-Pugh grade of patients was determined.According to the breast development, the patients were divided into the breast development group(n=53) and non-breast development group(n=70).The CT, MRI or BUS imaging data were used to estimate the breast volume(V_breast), body surface area(BSA), normalized breast volume(R_{breast/surface}) and normal liver volume(V_liver).The regional growth or volume measurement techniques were used to measure the volume of diseased liver(V_{liver disease}) and rate of change of liver volume(R_liver), and the imaging grading of smear cirrhosis was used to evaluate the liver images.

ResultsThere were 19 cases of unilateral enlargement and 34 cases of bilateral enlargement in the breast development group.The difference of the R_{breast/surface} grade between unilateral and bilateral breast hyperplasia patients was statistically significant(P < 0.01).The differences of the V_breast, R_{breast/surfac}, Child-Pugh grade, Child-Pugh score and CT grade of liver cirrhosis between two groups were statistically significant(P < 0.01), while the differences of the V_{disease liver} and R_liver were not statistically significant(P>0.05).According to the Child-Pugh grading method, the patients in the two groups were divided into the A, B and C grades, respectively.The V_breast and R_{breast/surface} of patients in the breast development group showed an increasing trend with the increase of liver function grade(P < 0.05 to P < 0.01), and the differences of which was statistically significant compared with those in the non-breast development group(P < 0.01).The V_{disease liver} and R_liver of the diseased liver in two groups showed a decreasing trend with the increase of liver function grade(P < 0.01), but there was no statistical significance in the corresponding liver function grade between two groups(P>0.05).There were significant positive correlations among the V_breast, R_{breast/surface}, Child-Pugh grade of liver function and CT grade of smear cirrhosis(P < 0.01), while there were significant negative correlations among the V_{disease liver} and R_liver and liver function grade and CT grade of smear cirrhosis(P < 0.01).

ConclusionsThe comprehensive use of various imaging methods to measure the enlargement of breast volume in elderly male patients with cirrhosis can help to infer and evaluate the degree of liver function damage and liver atrophy.