Figure 5.

Construction of preoperative nomogram to predict intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma in patients with intrahepatic lithiasis. A preoperative nomogram was created based upon seven potential independent predictors as identified by the multivariate logistic regression analysis, including age, vomiting, abdominal pain, radiological diagnosis, alkaline phosphatase (ALK), cancer antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9), and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). In radiological diagnosis item, the definition of the number “1” as no mass lesions found, the definition of the number “2” as inflammatory mass (IM), the definition of the number “3” as suspicious cancer and number “4” as cancer according preoperative comprehensive radiological diagnosis upon US, CT or MRI. Population distribution of varied total points in the training cohort was presented as the green area on the scale of total-points-to-outcome-nomogram. For each patient, the values of seven risk factors are represented as points by projecting them onto the upper-most line (point scale). Summing the seven variables and projecting the total points value down ward onto the bottom-most line can determine probability of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.