Liver resection for HCC with cirrhosis: surgical perspectives out of EASL/AASLD guidelines.

EASL/AASLD guidelines clearly define indications for liver surgery for HCC: patients with single HCC and completely preserved liver function without portal hypertension. These guidelines exclude from operation many patients that could benefit from radical resection and that are daily scheduled for hepatectomy in surgical centers. Patients with large tumors or with portal vein thrombosis cannot be transplanted or treated by interstitial treatments. In selected cases liver resection may obtain good long-term outcomes, significantly better than non-curative therapies. In cases of multinodular HCC, liver transplantation is the treatment of choice within Milan criteria; patients beyond these limits can benefit from liver resection, especially if only two nodules are diagnosed: even if they have a worse prognosis, survival results after liver surgery are better than those reported after TACE or conservative treatments. EASL/AASLD guidelines excluded from operating patients with portal hypertension but data about this topic are not conclusive and further studies are necessary. Selected patients with mild portal hypertension could probably be scheduled for liver resection and, considering the shortage of donors, listing for transplantation could be avoided. In conclusion, guidelines for HCC treatment should consider good results of liver resection for advanced HCC, and indications for hepatectomy should be expanded in order not to exclude from radical therapy patients that could benefit from it.

Liver resection for large-size hepatocellular carcinomas in 47 non-cirrhotic patients--no mortality and long-term survival.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Few reports have analyzed short- and long-term outcomes in the subset of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) on non-cirrhotic liver. METHODOLOGY: From January 1985 to December 2002, 277 patients underwent liver resection for HCC; in only 47 the liver was normal or showed mild chronic hepatitis at histology. RESULTS: A major hepatectomy (MHR) was accomplished in 37 cases (78.7%) including an extended hepatic resection in 18 (38.3%). In-hospital mortality was nil. The rate of complications was 40.4%. Overall and disease-free survival rates at 5 years were 30.9% and 33.9%. Fifteen patients are actually alive with a median survival of 33.3 months. By multivariate analysis, tumor size > 10cm and presence of satellite nodules were independent predictive factors of 5-year survival; median survival of thirteen patients with HCCs < or = 10cm and without daughter nodules was 60 months. Twenty-six patients had a margin less than 1cm and without cancer involvement; overall and recurrence-free survival rates were comparable to those of the patients with a > 1cm margin. CONCLUSIONS: In the treatment of HCC without cirrhosis, major hepatic resections are often needed. Tumors less than 10cm in size and without satellite nodes are the best candidates for operation. The width of the resection margin is unimportant provided that there is no microscopic infiltration.

Randomized clinical trial of liver resection with and without hepatic pedicle clamping.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to compare the perioperative outcome of liver resection with and without intermittent hepatic pedicle clamping. METHODS: Between June 2002 and June 2004, 126 consecutive patients with resectable liver tumours were randomized to undergo resection with (63 patients) or without (63 patients) intermittent hepatic pedicle clamping. RESULTS: The transection time was significantly higher in the group without hepatic pedicle clamping. The blood loss per cm(2) was similar in the two groups: 2.7 ml/cm(2) in the group with versus 3.2 ml/cm(2) in group without hepatic pedicle clamping (P = 0.425). In the subset of patients with an abnormal liver, there were no differences in blood loss per transection surface: 3.1 ml/cm(2) in the group with versus 2.9 ml/cm(2) in the group without clamping (P = 0.829). The rate of blood transfusions was not higher in the non-clamping group. No differences were observed in the postoperative liver enzyme serum levels, the in-hospital mortality (one patient in each group) or the number of complications. CONCLUSION: This study showed clearly that liver resection without hepatic pedicle clamping is safe, even in patients with a diseased liver.

Liver resection for hepatocellular carcinoma on cirrhosis: analysis of mortality, morbidity and survival--a European single center experience.

AIMS: To evaluate short- and long-term results of liver resections and prognostic factors in cirrhotic patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. STUDY DESIGN: A single-unit, retrospective study analyzing 216 patients with histologically confirmed cirrhosis who underwent hepatic resection for hepatocellular carcinoma. All clinico-pathologic and follow-up data were collected prospectively. RESULTS: Child A patients had a significantly lower in-hospital mortality rate compared to Child B-C: 4.7 vs 21.3% (p=0.0003). Overall morbidity rate was 38.4%; multiple logistic regression analysis identified liver function, hepatic pedicle clamping time, number of nodes and transfusion rate as independent predictors for post-operative complications. Overall and disease-free 5-year survival rates were 34.1 and 25.2%. Multivariate analysis showed that Child A, radical resection, tumour size < or =5 cm and, absence of vascular invasion were independent prognostic factors for long-term survival. No significant differences in overall and disease-free survival were found according to the type of resection (anatomic vs non-anatomic). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with preserved liver function and small-size, single-node hepatocellular carcinomas are the best candidates for hepatic resection.

[Parenchyma sparing: evolution of the resective surgical approach of hepatic metastasis from the colorectum]. / Il risparmio di parenchima: evoluzione della strategia chirurgica resettiva delle metastasi epatiche colorettali.

Liver surgery for colorectal metastasis has moved toward a parenchymal sparing strategy in order to reduce postoperative liver failure, to resect an higher number of metastases and to allow a future re-resection. Patients undergone hepatectomy in our Department before and after 1999 were retrospectively compared. In the recent years surgery became more aggressive: a higher number of patients with multiple and bilateral lesions were treated. Short-term results improved in the recent series. After 1999, the rate of wedge resections was significantly increased with the same oncological radicality and with improved long-term results. Moreover, parenchymal sparing strategy allowed a higher re-resection rate in patients with liver recurrence.

Repeat hepatectomy for colorectal liver metastases: A worthwhile operation?

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: After curative resection of hepatic colorectal metastases, 10-20% of patients experience a resectable hepatic recurrence. We wanted to assess the expected risk-to-benefit ratio in comparison to first hepatectomy and to determine the prognostic factors associated with survival. METHODS: Twenty-nine patients from a group of 152 patients resected for colorectal liver metastases underwent 32 repeat hepatectomies. RESULTS: In-hospital mortality was 3.5% (1/29 patients); the morbidity after repeat hepatectomy was lower than that after first hepatic resection. Combined extrahepatic surgery was performed on 34.5% of repeat hepatectomies vs. 6.9% of first hepatectomies (P = 0.01). Overall actuarial 3-year survival was 35.1%: four patients have survived more than 3 years and one survived for more than 5 years. The number of hepatic metastases and the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) serum levels were significant prognostic factors on univariate analysis. The synchronous resection of hepatic and extrahepatic disease was not associated with a lower survival rate when compared with that of patients without extrahepatic localization: three patients of the former group are alive and disease-free at more than 2 years. CONCLUSIONS: Repeat hepatic resection can provide long-term survival rates similar to those of first liver resection, with comparable mortality and morbidity. The presence of resectable extrahepatic disease must not be an absolute contraindication to synchronous hepatectomy because long-term survival is possible.

Spontaneous rupture of hepatocelluar carcinoma: surgical resection and long-term survival.

AIMS: Spontaneous rupture of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a life-threatening event, particularly in patients with associated cirrhosis. We present our experience of hepatic resection of ruptured HCC. METHODS: We performed 199 resections of hepatocellular carcinoma between January 1984 and December 1999. Six (3%) of these patients were operated on as an emergency because of haemoperitoneum: in five the liver was cirrhotic. RESULTS: The mean duration of the operation was 195+/-101 min; all the patients received blood transfusions. The overall morbidity was 50%, with a mortality rate of 16.5%. Three patients were alive at 50, 80 and 116 months respectively; two had an intrahepatic recurrence treated by chemoembolization. CONCLUSIONS: Non-surgical treatment of spontaneously ruptured hepatocarcinoma should be performed only in patients with contraindication to surgery. Hepatic resection should be the treatment of choice since, according to our experience, long-term results are similar to those of elective surgery.

Radical surgery for gallbladder cancer: current options.

Gallbladder carcinoma is the most common malignancy of the biliary tract. There are still many controversies regarding the type of curative surgical treatment for each stage of the disease. The staging system used is the TNM classification of the International Union Against Cancer. Different patterns of spread characterize gallbladder cancer but the two main types are direct invasion and lymph node metastases; since only the depth of invasion can be easily recognized by imaging techniques, it becomes the main variable in choosing the appropriate surgical treatment. Most Tis and T1 tumours are incidentally discovered after cholecystectomy for cholelithiasis and no further therapy is requested; for pT1b tumours, relaparotomy with hepatic resection and N1 dissection is associated with a better survival. For T2 tumours, cholecystectomy with hepatic resection and dissection of N1-2 lymph nodes is the standard treatment, with a 5-year survival of 60-80%. The only chance of long-term survival for patients with a T3-T4 tumour is an extended operation combining an hepatic resection with an N1-2 dissection with or without excision of the common bile duct. A subset of patients with peripancreatic positive nodes or invasion of adjacent organs seems to benefit from a synchronous pancreaticoduodenectomy.

Liver function and encephalopathy after partial vs direct side-to-side portacaval shunt: a prospective randomized clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to determine, in a prospective randomized clinical trial, whether the partial portacaval shunt offers any advantage in terms of liver function and encephalopathy rate when compared with direct side-to-side direct portacaval shunt. METHODS: Forty-six "good risk" patients with cirrhosis and with documented variceal hemorrhage were randomly assigned to either a partial shunt procedure (achieved by 10-mm diameter interposition portacaval H-graft) or direct small-diameter side-to-side portacaval anastomosis. RESULTS: Operative mortality was zero in both groups. During the follow-up period, encephalopathy developed in 3 patients in the partial shunt group and 9 in the direct shunt group (P =.04). Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that encephalopathy-free survival was significantly longer in the partial shunt group (P =.025). Direct shunt patients had significant hepatic functional deterioration postoperatively compared with the partial shunt group. CONCLUSIONS: The partial portacaval shunt effectively controls variceal hemorrhage. Compared with direct side-to-side portacaval shunt, partial shunt preserves long-term hepatic function and minimizes postoperative encephalopathy. We conclude that the partial portacaval shunt is the preferred approach over direct shunts for patients with cirrhosis and with variceal bleeding.

Radical surgery for gallbladder cancer: a worthwhile operation?

AIMS: Extended operations are the only chance of a cure for patients with advanced gallbladder carcinoma, but there is no consensus about which subset of patients can benefit. The aim of this retrospective study is to evaluate the results of surgical resection with special reference to the prognostic factors and to long-term survival. METHODS: A retrospective review of 70 patients with a diagnosis of gallbladder cancer treated from 1985-1998 was performed: 33 patients had a curative resection and were included in this study. For stage I disease, simple cholecystectomy was considered curative; in most of the other cases, cholecystectomy was associated with lymph node dissection and liver resection. RESULTS: Hospital mortality and morbidity were 6% and 33%, respectively. Curative resection was associated with an actuarial 5-year survival of 27.4%. Survival of pT1-2 patients was significantly better than that of pT3 (P=0.04) or pT4 patients (P=0.002). Patients with lymph node spread had a poorer prognosis (P=0.06) but four were alive and disease-free with a median survival of 22 months. CONCLUSIONS: Depth of the tumour and lymph node metastases are important prognostic factors. Patients with pT3-4 tumours or regional lymph node spread should be considered for curative resection because long-term survival is possible.

[Indications and results of radical treatment of gallbladder carcinoma]. / Indicazioni e risultati del trattamento radicale del carcinoma della colecisti.

Extended cholecystectomy is the only chance of a cure for patients with locally advanced cancer of the gallbladder. The aim of the study was to evaluate the short- and long-term results of surgical treatment and to define the prognostic factors associated with better survival. We conducted a retrospective study in 81 patients with gallbladder cancer admitted to our surgical department from 1985 to 1999. Radical surgery was performed on 39 patients. The type of surgical treatment was based on the TNM stage of the disease: all but stage I patients underwent extended cholecystectomy (resection of segment IVa-V, N1-2 lymph-node dissection). The mortality and morbidity rates were 5.1% and 28.2%, respectively. In the patients undergoing curative resection, the 5-year survival was 31.5% (75% in T1 patients, 57.1% in T2, 25.9% in T3 and 0% in T4. Long-term survival of patients with T1-2 tumours was significantly better than that of T3 (P = 0.02) or T4 patients (P = 0.0003); 53.6% of N0 patients were still alive at 5 years as against only 14.5% of N+ patients (P = 0.06). Depth of infiltration is an important prognostic factor. The presence of lymph-node metastases should not be a contraindication to surgery since long-term survival is possible.

Operative risks of major hepatic resections.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Despite recent advances in liver surgery, major hepatic resection still remains a major operation with significant mortality and morbidity. We report our experience with major hepatic resections with particular regard to the operative risk of this procedure in cirrhotic and non-cirrhotic patients. METHODOLOGY: One hundred and ninety-three patients with malignant (77.2%) or benign (22.8%) liver tumors underwent major hepatic resection between January 1981 and December 1995. Twenty-eight patients had cirrhosis. We performed 109 right hepatectomies (56.5%), 30 right extended hepatectomies (15.5%), 32 left hepatectomies (16.6%), 15 left extended hepatectomies (7.8%) and 7 trisegmentectomies (3.6%). In 63 patients (32.6%), single or multiple associated resections were performed. Selected intraoperative and outcome data were compared in this retrospective analysis. RESULTS: There were 9 intraoperative complications: 4 injuries of the contralateral biliary duct, 4 injuries of the vena cava and 1 partial stricture of the left hepatic vein. The mean operation time was 284 +/- 97.9 min. The mean number of transfused units of blood was 1.6 +/- 1.8. The patients with operative complications required a median of 5 units of blood (range: 1-11) (p = 0.001). The intra- and postoperative mortality was 3.1%. Seventy-six patients (39.3%) developed postoperative complications, and 20.7% of these were major complications. Blood replacement was significantly higher in the cirrhotic patients (p = 0.007). No other significant differences were found between the cirrhotic and non-cirrhotic patients. CONCLUSIONS: Major hepatic resection for malignant or benign disease can be performed safely with minimal morbidity and mortality in patients with normal livers and in selected cirrhotic patients classified as Pugh A.

[The therapeutic strategy in calculosis of the main biliary tract]. / La strategia terapeutica della calcolosi della VBP.

With the advent of laparoscopic techniques and other nonoperative techniques, the management of patients with common bile duct (CBD) stones became more complex. With low, medium or high preoperative suspicion of CBD stones, three factors influence the correct management: the degree of endoscopic, radiologic and laparoscopic expertise; the severity of symptoms; the presence or absence of the gallbladder. In patients with a low probability of having CBD stones routine ERCP pre-LC appears inappropriate. The management of patients with medium probability of CBD stones depends on the ability of the laparoscopist to remove CBD stones. A single laparoscopic procedure for cholelithiasis and CBD stones would be the best approach in the majority of patients. ERCP should be considered the procedure of choice in patients with severe gallstones pancreatitis, acute cholangitis and in those with a high probability of having CBS stones.

Anatomical hepatectomy for resection or transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Anatomical resection has become the basis for the treatment of hepatic tumors recognizing the portal-based intrahepatic architecture of the liver. In transplantation, these principles have been applied to the creation of partial liver grafts used to treat pediatric recipients with grafts from adult donors. In this study we reviewed the results of application of these techniques in 60 patients undergoing major hepatectomy and in 47 liver transplants in children. METHODS: Records of patients undergoing resection and children undergoing transplantation were reviewed. A descriptive study was performed characterizing the methods and results achieved using anatomic hepatectomy. Outcomes analyzed included surgical morbidity and survival. RESULTS: Sixty consecutive patients underwent major hepatectomy without operative mortality (60 days). Complications occurred in 26% of patients, requiring reoperation in 2 cases (3%); median hospital stay was 8.5 days. Of 47 liver transplants in children, 57% utilized partial grafts, and living donors were used in 15 cases. Actual patient survival is 91% 1-36 months after surgery. No patient deaths were due to technical graft failure. CONCLUSIONS: Major hepatic surgery can be accomplished with low mortality applying portal-based anatomy. Surgical precision is made possible by vascular isolation for hepatectomy and operative ultrasonography. These principles are essential for successful use of partial liver grafts in children.

A critical appraisal of the small-diameter portacaval H-graft.

BACKGROUND: The ideal portasystemic shunt should prevent variceal hemorrhage and preserve portal flow to reduce hepatic encephalopathy. The partial shunting proposed by Sarfeh effectively controls variceal bleeding while preserving prograde hepatic portal flow. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We analyzed results of the partial portacaval shunt prospectively in 43 patients undergoing small-diameter (8-mm or 10-mm) portacaval H-graft. Patients entered into the study had Child-Pugh class A and class B cirrhosis, and all had documented previous variceal hemorrhages. We used the Sarfeh technique without performing portal collateral ligation. RESULTS: Operative mortality was 5%. Acute graft thrombosis occurred in 3 patients, 2 of whom were successfully lysed by urokinase infusion angiographically, while later graft occlusion occurred in 1 case. Only 1 patient rebled from varices in our late follow-up (14 to 65 months). Prograde portal flow was maintained in 90% of patients undergoing repeat angiography 27 +/- 13 months postoperatively. The incidence of all encephalopathy episodes was 16%, with only 1 patient having this complication chronically. CONCLUSIONS: The small-diameter portacaval H-graft of Sarfeh is an effective operation for controlling variceal hemorrhage. It preserves hepatic portal perfusion over time in the majority of patients, reducing the risk of encephalopathy. The procedure may be particularly suited for alcoholic cirrhotic patients with less advanced liver disease.

[Antibiotic prophylaxis with aztreonam in general surgery]. / Profilassi antibiotica con aztreonam in chirurgia generale.

Personal experience in peroperative antibiotic prophylaxis with aztreonam (Azactam) in 81 patients undergoing abdominal surgery of choice is reported. The usefulness, handiness and lack of side-effects of this parenteral drug are reiterated. The incidence of surgical wound infections was 2.5%, while that of associated infections was 6.1%. Considering these results, the use of aztreonam (Azctam) is recommended in peroperative prophylaxis as a drug of choice.

[Portacaval anastomosis in patients with liver cirrhosis. Study of prognostic factors of survival by multivariate analysis]. / Anastomose porto-cave chez le malade atteint de cirrhose. Etude des facteurs pronostiques de survie par une analyse multidimensionelle.

Seventeen preoperative variables were collected in order to assess their prognostic value on survival in 82 cirrhotic patients who underwent a portosystemic shunt for ruptured esophageal varices. Univariate analysis showed that the presence of encephalopathy, bad nutritional status, elevated serum bilirubin, low serum albumin, the presence of ascites and Child-Turcotte's or Child-Pugh's C class were significantly associated with a reduction of long-term survival. Multivariate analysis according to the Cox model showed that only encephalopathy and nutritional status were independently associated with survival. Six survival curves were proposed to estimate the survival probability with these 2 preoperative data; encephalopathy had a predominant effect on survival during the first 5 years after surgery.