Applied anatomy of small branches of the portal vein in transverse groove of hepatic hilum.

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to provide the morphological details on small branches of the portal vein in transverse groove of hepatic hilum. METHODS: According to the surgery significance, the small branches of portal vein in transverse groove of hepatic hilum were named as "Short hepatic portal veins (SHPVs)". SHPVs were minutely dissected in 30 adult cadaveric livers. The number, diameter, length, origin points, and entering liver sites of SHPVs were explored and measured. RESULTS: There were 181 SHPVs in 30 liver specimens, including 46% (83/181) from the left portal vein, 31% (56/181) from the bifurcation, and 23% (42/181) from the right portal vein. At the entering liver sites of SHPVs, 22% (40/181) supplied for segment IV, 9% (17/181) for segment V, 4% (7/181) for segment VI, 23% (41/181) for segment VII, and 42% (76/181) for segment I (caudate lobe). There were 6.0 ± 2.4 branches per liver specimen with range 3-12. The mean diameter of SHPVs was 2.25 ± 0.89 mm. The average length of SHPVs was 4.86 ± 2.12 mm. CONCLUSIONS: SHPVs widely existed in each liver specimen. The detailed anatomical study of SHPVs could be useful to avoid damaging the short portal branches during hepatic operations, such as isolated or combined caudate lobectomy.

Early control of short hepatic portal veins in isolated or combined hepatic caudate lobectomy.

BACKGROUND: Caudate lobectomy has long been considered technically difficult. This study aimed to elaborate the significance of early control of short hepatic portal veins (SHPVs) in isolated hepatic caudate lobectomy or in hepatic caudate lobectomy combined with major partial hepatectomy, and to describe the anatomical characteristics of SHPVs. METHODS: The data of 117 patients who underwent either isolated or combined caudate lobectomy by the same team of surgeons from 2005 to 2009 were retrospectively analyzed. From 2005 to 2007 (group A, n=55), we carried out early control of short hepatic veins (SHVs) only; from 2008 to 2009 (group B, n=62), we carried out early control of both SHVs and SHPVs. The two groups were compared to evaluate which surgical procedure was better. A detailed anatomical study was then carried out on the last 25 consecutive patients in group B to study the number and distribution of SHPVs during surgery. RESULTS: Patients in group B had less intra-operative blood loss, less impairment of liver function, shorter postoperative hospital stay, fewer postoperative complications and required less blood transfusion (P<0.05). The number of SHPVs in the 25 patients was 183, with 7.3+/-2.7 per patient. The diameters of SHPVs were 1 to 4 mm. On average, 3.4 SHPVs/patient came from the left portal vein, 2.2 from the bifurcation, 1.4 from the right portal vein, and 0.3 from the main portal vein. On average, 3.3 SHPVs/patient supplied segment I of the liver, 0.4 for segment II, 2.1 for segment IV, 1.4 for segment V and 0.1 for segment VI. CONCLUSION: Early control of SHPVs in isolated or combined hepatic caudate lobectomy may be a useful method to decrease surgical risk and improve postoperative recovery.

Sorafenib extends the survival time of patients with multiple recurrences of hepatocellular carcinoma after liver transplantation.

AIM: to determine the efficacy and toxicities of sorafenib in the treatment of patients with multiple recurrences of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after liver transplantation in a Chinese population. METHODS: twenty patients with multiple recurrences of HCC after liver transplantation were retrospectively studied. They received either transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) or TACE combined with sorafenib. RESULTS: the median survival times (MST) after multiple recurrences was 14 months (TACE+sorafenib group) and 6 months (TACE only group). The difference was significant in MST between the two groups (P=0.005). The TACE + sorafenib group had more stable disease (SD) patients than the TACE group. The most frequent adverse events of sorafenib were hand-foot skin reaction and diarrhea. In the univariate analysis, preoperative bilirubin and CHILD grade are found to be significantly associated with tumor-free survival time, the survival time after multiple recurrences and overall survival time. TACE+sorafenib group showed a better outcome than single TACE treatment group. In the multivariate COX regression modeling, the preoperative high CHILD grade was found to be a risk factor of tumor-free survival time. In addition, the preoperative high bilirubin grade was also found to be a risk factor of survival time after recurrence and overall survival time. Furthermore, survival time after recurrence and overall survival time were also associated with therapeutic schedule, which was indicated by the GROUP. CONCLUSION: Treatment with TACE and sorafenib is worthy of further study and may have more extensive application prospects.