Left hepatectomy or left trisectionectomy with resection of the caudate lobe and extrahepatic bile duct for hilar cholangiocarcinoma (with video)

Purpose

Although left-sided hepatectomy, such as a left hepatectomy or left trisectionectomy with resection of the caudate lobe and extrahepatic bile duct, is used to treat hilar cholangiocarcinoma predominantly involving the left side of the hepatic hilum, it is associated with several difficult technical points. The important points during left-sided hepatectomy are described here.

Techniques

There are anatomical variations of the sectional artery and bile duct. It is essential to understand the individual intrahepatic and hilar anatomy preoperatively. Surgical procedures consist of lymph node clearance, dissection of the distal bile duct, skeletonization resection of the hepatoduodenal ligament, mobilization of the liver and liver resection, dissection of the intrahepatic bile ducts, and biliary reconstruction. During lymph node dissection and skeletonization resection of the hepatoduodenal ligament, the nerve plexus around the hepatic artery is dissected, and its adventitia is exposed with great care to avoid injuring the hepatic artery. Mobilization of the caudate lobe is performed only from the left side. There is no clear landmark between the caudate lobe and the right posterior section during liver resection. In the final step of liver resection, it progresses toward the right edge of the inferior vena cava. When dividing intrahepatic bile ducts, extreme care should be used to avoid injury to the corresponding hepatic arteries, especially the anomalous supraportal posterior sectional artery.

Conclusions

Left-sided hepatectomy for hilar cholangiocarcinoma should be considered a more complicated and technically demanding procedure than right-sided hepatectomy. Surgeons need to pay close attention to anatomical variations in order to perform a left-sided hepatectomy safely and successfully.     

Traitement chirurgical des hémangiomes hépatiques

Background

Hepatic hemangiomas are the most common benign tumors of the liver and are often asymptomatic. Spontaneous or traumatic rupture, intratumoral bleeding, rapid growth, uncertain diagnosis, and coagulopathy are the main surgical indications. We present our experience with the surgical management of 15 liver hemangiomas to clarify the safety and effectiveness of this treatment.

Methods

There were 15 patients with hepatic hemangiomas who were surgically treated from 2000 to 2008. Indications for the operation were abdominal pain, rapid growth, and uncertain diagnosis. The hemangiomas were located on the left lobe of the liver in nine patients and on the right lobe in three patients. One lesion was located on segment I and one on segment IV. One patient had a liver angiomatosis. Methods for diagnosis included ultrasonography and computed tomography scan, used alone or in combination.

Results

The procedures included five left lobectomies, one left-extended lobectomy, two left-extended hepatectomies, three segmental resections, and three enucleations. There was no death. The postoperative morbidity was minimal and was mainly correlated to a subdiaphragmatic collection and a hemoperitoneum due to a wound of the inferior vena cava. The postoperative hospital stay was 6 days (range, 4–10 days). During the follow-up period, there was no recurrence.

Conclusion

The resection of the hepatic hemangioma is safe. Both anatomic resection and enucleation can be effective in removing these tumors, and the choice of procedure will depend on some factors such as location, size, and morphology of the tumor.     

Step classification is useful for the determination of indications for systematized hepatectomy in hepatocellular carcinoma

Background/Purpose

The effectiveness of systematized hepatectomy with transection of Glisson's pedicle at the hepatic hilus has not been clarified in detail in relation to previous staging systems. Outcomes after systematized hepatectomy in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were examined in relation to our new staging system.

Methods

We retrospectively studied 955 patients with HCC who underwent hepatectomy from 1989 through 2002. We classified patients with HCC into four groups according to the pathological findings (pathological step [p-step]): p-step 1, HCC with absence of vascular invasion and absence of intrahepatic metastasis; p-step 2, HCC with vascular invasion and/or intrahepatic metastasis; p-step 3, HCC with major vascular invasion and/or intrahepatic metastasis to both lobes of the liver; and p-step 4, HCC with distant metastasis, including lymph node metastasis or ruptured HCC). We separated the liver into three segments (Takasaki's liver segments). Systematized hepatectomy was classified as systematized segmentectomy or larger resection, and partial segmentectomy. Segmentectomy refers to resection of one of Takasaki's segments.

Results

Systematized segmentectomy did not affect recurrence-free survival, by univariate analysis, in patients with p-step 1, p-step 3, or p-step 4. However, systematized segmentectomy or larger resection was significantly associated with patient recurrence-free survival, by univariate analysis, in patients with p-step 2. Multivariate analysis also showed systematized segmentectomy or larger resection as a significant independent prognostic factor in patients with p-step 2.

Conclusions

Systematized segmentectomy is suitable for patients with p-step 2 HCC according to this step classification.     

Right hepatic lobectomy with thoracotomy: a description (with video)

Background/purpose

To describe surgical techniques and results of right hepatic lobectomy (RHL) with thoracotomy.

Methods

This procedure consists of laparotomy and thoracotomy, cholecystectomy, division of the right hepatic artery and right portal vein, mobilization of the liver, division of the right hepatic vein, transection of the liver parenchyma, and division of the right hepatic duct. Thoracotomy allows effective retraction of the costal arch, creating a better operative field and widening the working space.

Results

Between April 2000 and May 2011, RHL, excluding RHL with partial resection of the liver, with bile duct resection, and with combined resection of other organs, was performed in 62 patients. Thoracotomy was employed in 55 patients, but not in the remaining 7. There were no statistically significant differences in age, ICG15, blood loss, Pringle time, or morbidity between the two groups, but there was a significant inter-group difference in operation time. There was no postoperative mortality in either of the groups.

Conclusion

Although RHL with thoracotomy requires a longer operation time than RHL without thoracotomy, a thoraco-abdominal approach offers a greater degree of safety, particularly in patients with massive tumors, or tumors invading the diaphragm, without any increase in morbidity or mortality.     

Aggressive combined resection of hepatic inferior vena cava, with replacement by a ringed expanded polytetrafluoroethylene graft, in living-donor liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma beyond the Milan criteria

Background/purpose

We present the cases of two patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) beyond the Milan criteria (MC) who underwent living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT) combined with aggressive hepatic venacaval resection and replacement of the hepatic inferior vena cava (IVC) by an artificial vascular graft. The aim of the resection and replacement of the hepatic IVC was to resect completely a latent cancer adjacent to the hepatic IVC and to avoid micrometastasis via the hepatic veins during increased manipulation of the native liver with HCC.

Methods

First, the hepatic hilus was dissected and the infrahepatic IVC was encircled. After minimum mobilization of the liver, the common orifice of the middle and left hepatic veins and suprahepatic IVC was encircled. Venovenous bypass (VVB) was started to stabilize systemic hemodynamics. After cross-clamping of the infrahepatic and suprahepatic IVC, the IVC was divided at the site just below the confluence of the common orifice of the middle and left hepatic veins and its infrahepatic site. Then, all retroperitoneal attachments of the right lobe were dissected and the native liver was resected with the retrohepatic IVC. The IVC was replaced by a ringed expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (e-PTFE) graft. Infrahepatic venous recirculation ended the VVB. An extended left-lobe graft was implanted. The e-PTFE grafts were covered with the greater omentum to avoid infection.

Results

The operations were completed safely. The postoperative courses were free of complications related to the reconstruction of the hepatic IVC. One patient developed recurrence in the left adrenal gland.

Conclusion

LDLT combined with hepatic venacaval resection and replacement by an e-PTFE graft for HCC beyond the MC could be safe and feasible under VVB. Further studies are needed to confirm to what extent this procedure could prevent post-transplant recurrence in HCC beyond the MC.     

Efficacy of anatomic resection vs nonanatomic resection for small nodular hepatocellular carcinoma based on gross classification

Background/Purpose

It has been reported that anatomic resection may be preferable to nonanatomic resection for small hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs), by reducing socalled “micrometastases” (portal venous tumor extension and intrahepatic metastases). Nonanatomic resection or ablation has also been used as therapy for small HCCs. We studied the effectiveness of anatomic resection for small nodular HCCs, especially from the viewpoints of tumor size and gross classification.

Methods

A retrospective cohort study was performed in 116 consecutive patients who underwent curative hepatic resection for HCCs 3 cm or smaller and with three or fewer nodules. The outcome of anatomic resection (including segmentectomy, sectoriectomy, and hemihepatectomy) was compared to that of nonanatomic partial hepatectomy.

Results

The group that underwent anatomic resection (n = 52) had relatively better overall survival and significantly better recurrence-free survival than those with nonanatomic resection (n = 64). On Cox multivariate analysis, however, liver function was more closely associated with survival. The effect of anatomic resection was more prominent in the subgroup with the nonboundary type nodules (single nodular type with extranodular growth, confluent multinodular type, and invasive type) than in the subgroup with the boundary type (vaguely nodular and single nodular type). Micrometastases in the nonboundary type were found further from the main tumor (9.5 ± 6.2 mm) than those in the boundary type (within 3.1 +-1.4 mm).

Conclusions

In patients with HCC nodules equal to or less than 3 cm and with the nonboundary type, anatomic resection should be employed to the extent that liver function allows, because this procedure would be more favorable than nonanatomic resection in eradicating micrometastases that have extended away from the tumor’s margin.     

Safety of combined resection of the middle hepatic artery in right hemihepatectomy for hilar biliary malignancy

Background/purpose

In patients with hilar biliary malignancies, preservation of the middle hepatic artery (MHA, segment IV artery) where it runs close to the tumor in the hepatic hilum may lead to resection with positive margins. This retrospective study assessed the safety of combined resection of the MHA with right hemihepatectomy, caudate lobectomy, and bile duct resection for hilar biliary malignancies.

Methods

Of 61 patients with hilar biliary malignancies who underwent right hemihepatectomy, we classified the branching patterns of the MHA according to the origins and courses in the hilum. The MHA was resected without reconstruction in 16 patients in whom the artery ran close to the tumor. We compared the perioperative outcomes in these patients with those of patients who did not undergo resection of the artery.

Results

Anatomically, the MHA ran on the right side of the umbilical portion of the portal vein in 40 (66%) patients. Perioperative data for the patients who underwent combined resection were similar to those in whom the MAH was preserved. There were no postoperative complications that could be directly related to the arterial resection.

Conclusions

Combined resection of the MHA during right hemihepatectomy for hilar biliary malignancies has a safe perioperative course.     

Equivalent Outcomes After Anatomical and Non-anatomical Resection of Small Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Patients with Preserved Liver Function

Background

Although anatomical resection (AR) is considered better than non-anatomical resection (NAR) for the treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), there is only limited evidence in support of this argument.

Aim

The aim of this study was to investigate whether AR is superior to NAR regarding postoperative outcomes in patients with small solitary HCC and preserved liver function.

Methods

The study subjects were 92 curatively-resected patients with adequate liver function reserve (indocyanine green retention rate at 15 min <15%, prothrombin time >70%, serum albumin >3.5 g/dl) and macroscopically small (≤3.0 cm) solitary HCC without macroscopic vascular invasion; 30 patients underwent AR and 62 patients NAR. Postoperative short-term outcomes including mortality and morbidity and long-term outcomes were compared in the two groups.

Results

There was no significant difference in clinicopathological background in the two groups. Although resected liver volume was significantly larger in the AR group than the NAR group (p < 0.0001), no significant differences were detected in the incidence of mortality or morbidity. For long-term outcomes, there were no significant differences between the two groups in disease-free survival or overall survival. Multivariate analysis showed that the extent of surgical procedure was not a significant prognostic factor for disease-free or overall survival.

Conclusions

AR of a solitary small HCC did not carry postoperative outcome advantages compared with NAR in patients with preserved liver function. We recommend NAR for hepatic resection of small solitary HCC in patients with preserved liver function.     

Outcome of surgical treatment of hilar cholangiocarcinoma: a special reference to postoperative morbidity and mortality

Background/purpose

Radical resection for hilar cholangiocarcinoma is still associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to analyze short-term surgical outcomes and to validate our strategies, including preoperative management and selection of operative procedure.

Methods

We surgically treated 146 consecutive patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma with a management strategy consisting of preoperative biliary drainage, portal vein embolization, and selection of operative procedure based on tumor extension and hepatic reserve. Major hepatectomy was conducted in 126 patients, and caudate lobectomy or hilar bile duct resection in 20 patients.

Results

The overall 5-year survival rate was 35.5%, with overall in-hospital mortality and morbidity rates of 3.4 and 44%, respectively. Hyperbilirubinemia (total bilirubin >5 mg/dL, persisted for >7 postoperative days) and liver abscess were the most frequent complications. Five among 9 patients with liver failure (total bilirubin >10 mg/dL) encountered in-hospital mortality. Four out of 5 mortality patients had suffered circulatory impairment of the remnant liver due to other complications. Multivariate analysis revealed that operative time is a single independent significant predictive factor (odds ratio, 1.005; 95% confidence interval, 1.000–1.010, P = 0.04) for postoperative complications.

Conclusions

Aggressive resection for hilar cholangiocarcinoma, performed in accordance with strict management strategy, achieved acceptably low mortality. Prolonged operative time was a risk for morbidity following hepatobiliary resection.     

Major hepatectomy for perihilar cholangiocarcinoma

Background/purpose

Hilar cholangiocarcinoma and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma involving the hepatic hilus are defined as “perihilar cholangiocarcinoma”. The principle of surgical treatment is hemi-hepatectomy or trisectionectomy of the liver, caudate lobectomy, and resection of the extrahepatic bile duct for complete resection of the tumor. The aim of this study was to review the outcomes of major hepatectomy for perihilar cholangiocarcinoma.

Methods

Using the Kaplan–Meier method and the Cox proportional hazards model, we analyzed the results in 125 patients with perihilar cholangiocarcinoma who had undergone major hepatectomy.

Results

Right hepatectomy, right trisectionectomy, left hepatectomy, and left trisectionectomy were performed in 66, 8, 49, and 2 patients, respectively. Curative resection was achieved in 79 patients (63.2%). Mortality and morbidity rates were 8.0 and 48.7%, respectively. The overall 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates of all patients were 73.2, 36.7, and 34.7%, respectively. The median survival was 26.8 months. Multivariate analysis showed that the independent prognostic factors for overall survival were gender, histopathological grading, curative resection, and American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC)/International Union Against Cancer (UICC) pT.

Conclusions

Major hepatectomy for perihilar cholangiocarcinoma was acceptable and showed satisfactory outcomes. For long-term survival in these patients, the surgeon should aim for complete resection of the tumor with negative margins.     

Selective hypertrophy of the lobus caudatus as a novel approach enabling extended right hepatectomy in the presence of a non-perfused left lateral liver lobe

Introduction

Portal vein embolization (PVE) is a well-established technique to enhance functional hepatic reserves of segments II and III before curative extended right hepatectomy for tumors of the right liver lobe. However, an adequate hepatopetal flow of the left lateral portal vein branches is required for a sufficient PVE-associated hypertrophy.

Case report

Here, we report a 65-year old patient suffering from a locally advanced intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma in the right liver lobe and segment IV. A curative extended right hepatectomy after preoperative PVE of liver segments IV–VIII was initially impossible because of partial thrombosis of the left lateral portal vein branches resulting in an ischemic-type atrophy of segments II and III. However, due to a massive hypertrophy of the caudate lobe following PVE of liver segments IV–VIII, subsequent extended right hepatectomy with intraoperative thrombectomy of segments II and III was made possible.

Conclusions

To our knowledge this is the first case in which an extended right hepatectomy for a liver malignancy, in the presence of atrophic left lateral section, was made possible by a massive PVE-associated hypertrophy of the caudate lobe.     

Right hepatic lobectomy and subsegmental resection of the left caudate lobe for gallbladder carcinoma involving the hepatic hilus: Preservation of the ventral portion of the left caudate lobe

A case of gallbladder carcinoma in a 75-year-old woman with familial hyperbilirubinemia and preoperative hepatic dysfunction is presented. Tube cholangiography through a percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD) catheter demonstrated a stricture and the hepatic confluence without filling of the gallbladder and showed two bile duct branches arising from the left caudate lobe. Cholangiography also disclosed that the left dorsal branch, which joined the right hepatic bile duct, was involved with tumor, while the left ventral branch, which joined the left hepatic duct, was not. Extended right hepatic lobectomy with resection of the dorsal portion of the left caudate lobe, preserving the ventral portion of the left caudate lobe, was performed. Postoperative cholangiography showed that the ventral branch of the left caudate lobe bile duct was preserved. Precise preoperative anatomic diagnosis of the biliary system in patients with hepatobiliary cancer allows successful subsegmental resection of the caudate lobe.     

Prediction of postoperative hepatic insufficiency by liver stiffness measurement (FibroScan®) before curative resection of hepatocellular carcinoma: a pilot study

Background

Liver stiffness measurement (LSM) using transient elastography (FibroScan^®) reflects the degree of hepatic fibrosis. This prospective study investigated how well LSM predicts the development of hepatic insufficiency after curative liver resection surgery for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Methods

The study enrolled 72 consecutive patients who underwent a preoperative LSM to assess the degree of liver fibrosis followed by curative liver resection surgery for hepatocellular carcinoma between July 2006 and December 2007. The primary end point was the development of hepatic insufficiency.

Results

The mean age of the patients was 54.9 years. Twenty patients (27.7%) had chronic hepatitis and 52 (72.3%) had cirrhosis (44 and 8 patients showed Child-Pugh class A and B, respectively). The mean LSM was 17.1 kPa. Twelve patients (16.6%) had segmentectomy only, 16 patients (22.2%) had bisegmentectomy, and 44 patients (61.2%) had lobectomy. Nine patients (12.5%) had stage I tumor, 56 (77.7%) had stage II, and 7 (9.8%) had stage III. Univariate and subsequent multivariate analyses revealed that preoperative LSM was the only independent risk factor for predicting the development of postoperative hepatic insufficiency (cutoff, 25.6 kPa; P = 0.001; relative risk, 19.14; 95% confidence interval, 2.71–135.36).

Conclusions

LSM is potentially useful to predict the development of postoperative hepatic insufficiency in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma undergoing curative liver resection surgery.     

Laparoscopic liver resection for treating recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma

Background

It is still unknown whether laparoscopic liver resection is suitable for recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after previous curative hepatic resection.

Method

The perioperative outcomes of 40 patients treated with second surgery for recurrent HCC by partial hepatectomy were studied retrospectively. The second surgery was performed under laparotomy in 20 patients (laparotomy group) and under laparoscopy in 20 patients (laparoscopy group).

Results

Intraoperative blood loss (p < 0.0001) and the incidence of postoperative complications (p = 0.0004) were lower in the laparoscopy group than in the laparotomy group. The incidence rates of surgical site infection and intractable ascites were significantly higher in the laparotomy group than in the laparoscopy group (p = 0.0202, p = 0.0436, respectively). The proportion of patients classified as Clavien grade IIIa was higher in the laparotomy group than in the laparoscopy group (p = 0.0033). The duration of the postoperative hospital stay was significantly shorter in the laparoscopy group than in the laparotomy group (p < 0.0001).

Conclusions

Postoperative morbidity has been decreased by the introduction of laparoscopic liver resection in patients with recurrent HCC after curative hepatic resection. As a result, the duration of the postoperative stay is shorter.     

Perioperative change in white blood cell count predicts outcome of hepatic resection for hepatocellular carcinoma

Background

In spite of improvements in surgical management, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) still recurs after operation in 60–70% of patients. Therefore, we investigated the relation between perioperative change in white blood cell count (WBC) and tumor recurrence as well as survival in patients with HCC after hepatic resection.

Methods

Subjects were 53 patients who underwent elective hepatic resection for HCC. We retrospectively examined the relation between perioperative change in WBC and recurrence of HCC as well as overall survival.

Results

Advanced tumor stage and increasing of WBC on postoperative day (POD) 1 were positively associated with worse disease-free survival rate on both univariate and multivariate analysis (P < 0.05). Advanced tumor stage, increasing of WBC on POD 1, and blood transfusion were positively associated with worse overall survival rate on univariate analysis (P < 0.05), while change in WBC was the only independent factor on multivariate analysis (P < 0.05).

Conclusions

Perioperative change in WBC after elective hepatic resection for HCC is positively associated with recurrence and worse survival.     

Management of postoperative arterial hemorrhage after pancreato-biliary surgery according to the site of bleeding: re-laparotomy or interventional radiology

Background/Purpose

Intra-abdominal arterial hemorrhage is still one of the most serious complications after pancreato-biliary surgery. We retrospectively analyzed our experiences with 15 patients in order to establish a therapeutic strategy for postoperative arterial hemorrhage following pancreato-biliary surgery.

Methods

Between August 1981 and November 2007, 15 patients developed massive intra-abdominal arterial bleeding after pancreato-biliary surgery. The initial surgery of these 15 patients were pylorus-preserving pancreatoduodenectomy (PPPD) (7 patients), hemihepatectomy and caudate lobectomy with extrahepatic bile duct resection or PPPD (4 patients), Whipple’s pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) (3 patients), and total pancreatectomy (1 patient). Twelve patients were managed by transcatheter arterial embolization and three patients underwent re-laparotomy.

Results

Patients were divided into two groups according to the site of bleeding: SMA group, superior mesenteric artery (4 patients); HA group, stump of gastroduodenal artery, right hepatic artery, common hepatic artery, or proper hepatic artery (11 patients). In the SMA group, re-laparotomy and coil embolization for pseudoaneurysm were performed in three and one patients, respectively, but none of the patients survived. In the HA group, all 11 patients were managed by transcatheter arterial embolization. None of four patients who had major hepatectomy with extrahepatic bile duct resection survived. Six of seven patients (85.7%) who had pancreatectomy survived, although hepatic infarction occurred in four.

Conclusions

Management of postoperative arterial hemorrhage after pancreato-biliary surgery should be done according to the site of bleeding and the initial operative procedure. Careful consideration is required for indication of interventional radiology for bleeding from SMA after pancreatectomy and hepatic artery after major hepatectomy with bilioenteric anastomosis.     

Surgical technique: new advances for expanding indications and increasing safety in liver resection for HCC

Purpose

We introduce recent advances in surgical techniques and perioperative management in liver resection for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods

Our approaches to further enhancing the efficacy of resection for HCC, based on our presentation at “The 6th International Meeting of Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Eastern and Western Experiences” held in Seoul in December 2008, are presented, along with a review of recent advances in this field reported from eastern Asia.

Results

In our series, liver resection enabled a 5-year overall survival rate of close to 60%, even among patients with multiple HCCs and those with portal hypertension in a background of Child-Pugh class A cirrhosis. Favorable long-term results were obtained by the precise evaluation of liver function using the indocyanine green (ICG) test and the application of perioperative treatments for gastroesophageal varices and severe thrombocytopenia. Furthermore, promising novel techniques have been applied to increase the efficacy of HCC resection, including the preoperative simulation of liver resection, using three-dimensional computed tomography, a “peeling-off” technique for resecting HCC with macroscopic portal venous tumor thrombus, ICG-fluorescent imaging, predeposit autologous plasma transfusion, and laparoscopic liver resection.

Conclusions

The safety and accuracy of liver resection for HCC has been continuously enhanced by advances in surgical techniques and perioperative care. Given that the resection of HCC offers a satisfactory overall survival rate for patients with portal hypertension and those with oligonodular multiple tumors, the surgical indications can now be expanded to include such second-best candidates.     

Close relation between the inferior vena cava ligament and the caudate lobe in the human liver

Background/Purpose

This study was conducted to clarify the real relation between the inferior vena cava (IVC) ligament and the caudate lobe in the human liver and also to elucidate their surgical importance in liver surgery.

Methods

Specimens obtained from 20 adult cadaveric livers were submitted for the study. Histological structures of the IVC ligament and its relationship to the caudate lobe and the IVC were microscopically investigated.

Results

The IVC ligament was a broad membranous connective tissue bridging the left and right side edges of the caval groove in which the IVC was embedded. At both edges of the caval groove, the IVC ligament was continuously transformed from the Glisson's capsules of the caudate and right lobes. The component of the portal triad, which originated from that of caudate lobe, and lymphatics were distributed in the IVC ligament without exception and ectopic hepatocytes existed in it in 4 of the 20 cases.

Conclusions

A close relation between the IVC ligament and the caudate lobe was confirmed. The findings suggested that the IVC ligament is a kind of degenerated hepatic tissue. When dissecting it, surgeons should manipulate it carefully to prevent unexpected bleeding and bile leakage.

     

Technical considerations for radical resection of a primary leiomyosarcoma of the vena cava

Background

Radical resection provides the best hope for cure in leiomyosarcoma of the inferior vena cava (IVC). Multi-visceral resection is often indicated by extensive tumour involvement. This report describes the technical challenges encountered during resection of a retrohepatic IVC leiomyosarcoma.

Methods

Computed tomography showed an IVC leiomyosarcoma measuring 7.8 × 10.0 × 19.3 cm in a 41-year-old patient. The tumour reached the confluence of the hepatic veins, displacing the caudate lobe anteriorly and extending towards the IVC bifurcation inferiorly. En bloc resection of the IVC tumour with a right hepatic and caudate lobectomy, and a right nephrectomy was performed.

Results

Subsequent to a Cattel manoeuvre, the operative procedures carried out can be broadly categorized in four major steps: (i) mobilization of the infrahepatic IVC and tumour; (ii) mobilization of the suprahepatic IVC from diaphragmatic attachments; (iii) right hepatectomy with complete caudate lobe resection, and (iv) en bloc resection of the IVC tumour. This approach allowed the entire length of tumour-bearing IVC to be freed from the retroperitoneum and avoided the risk for iatrogenic tumour rupture during dissection at the retrohepatic IVC. Reconstruction of the IVC was not performed in the presence of venous collaterals.

Conclusions

Experience in liver resection and transplantation, and appreciation of the hepatocaval anatomy facilitate the safe and radical resection of retrohepatic IVC leiomyosarcoma.     

Laparoscopic extended right hepatectomy for posterior and completely caudate massive liver tumor (with videos)

<正>To the Editor: Liver tumor may occur in any hepatic segment or lobe, and thus the liver resection is individualized as per the location and size of the tumor. In addition, the resection of the posterior and caudate lobes of the liver is especially difficult amongst all types of hepatectomy. Kawaguchi et al. believed that the laparoscopic resection of right posterior liver lobe was a difficult surgical procedure [1].