Faculty Bibliography

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND:Variations in portal vein anatomy occur in 20-35 % of individuals. A non-bifurcating portal vein (PV) was suspected on preoperative imaging in a patient with a large right lobe hepatocellular carcinoma. The single PV curved within the liver parenchyma from right to left supplying second-order branches along its course. CASE REPORT/METHODS:Utilizing the hanging maneuver, an extended right hemihepatectomy was safely performed. This approach allowed for preservation of the main PV and its left-sided branches while easily identifying the second-order right branches for ligation. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:Knowledge of portal vein variations and identification preoperatively by cross-sectional imaging are critical. The hanging maneuver aids in the preservation of the main portal vein and its left-sided branches during right hemihepatectomy in the presence of portal vein anomalies, and this technique can be used to improve safety in hepatobiliary surgery.

BACKGROUND:Retrospective analysis of outcomes of R0 (negative margin) versus R1 (positive margin) liver resections for colorectal metastases (CLM) in the context of peri-operative chemotherapy. METHODS:All CLM resections between 2000 and 2006 were reviewed. Exclusion criteria included: macroscopically incomplete (R2) resections, the use of local treatment modalities, the presence of extra-hepatic disease and no peri-operative chemotherapy. R0/R1 status was based on pathological examination. RESULTS:Of 86 eligible patients, 63 (73%) had R0 and 23 (27%) had R1 resections. The two groups were comparable for the number, size of metastases and type of hepatectomy. The R1 group had more bilobar CLM (52% versus 24%, P = 0.018). The median follow-up was 3.1 years. Five-year overall and disease-free survival were 54% and 21% for the R0 group and 49% and 22% for the R1 group (P = 0.55 and P = 0.39, respectively). An intra-hepatic recurrence was more frequent in the R1 group (52% versus 27%, P = 0.02) and occurred more frequently at the surgical margin (22% versus 3%, P = 0.01). DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS:R1 resections were associated with a higher risk of intra-hepatic and surgical margin recurrence but did not negatively impact survival suggesting that in the era of efficient chemotherapy, the risk of an R1 resection should not be considered as a contraindication to surgery.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS/OBJECTIVE:The aim was to externally validate the capability of a simplified Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (s-BCLC) staging system in allocating patients to hepatic resection (HR) and the effect on survival: S-BCLC was defined by only 2 groups: AA included BCLC A1 + A2 classes with alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) ≤ 20 ng/ml and AB included A1 + A2 with AFP > 20 ng/ml plus A3 + A4 subgroups. METHODS:This study compared a training group (TG) with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) submitted to hepatic resection (HR) in Milan with another group of patients, the validation group (VG) in Creteil. All patients underwent ultrasound-guided anatomical resection (<3 segments). RESULTS:Overall survival got worse from A1 to A4 (p = 0.0271) in TG (n = 132), as well as in VG (n = 100) (p = 0.0044) with a more important overlapping of each curves. According s-BCLC classification, the survival curves of TG (p = 0.0001) and VG (p = 0.0250) showed a definitive separation in two different staging groups. The s-BCLC provided the best predictive accuracy and it also presented the highest separability index and C-statistics in both TG and VG. On the other hand, in the evaluation of discriminatory ability for death, measured by ROC curve areas, the s-BCLC system gave better results than the others. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:This experience stressed the high value of BCLC system in staging of HCC, but the s-BCLC system seems to be more useful for therapeutic decision making.

CONTEXT/BACKGROUND:Greater utilization of cross-sectional abdominal imaging has increased the diagnostic frequency of cystic neoplasms of the pancreas. The "International Consensus Guidelines 2012 for the Management of IPMN and MCN of the Pancreas" illustrates a diagnostic and therapeutic algorithm for these lesions based on current knowledge. CASE REPORT/METHODS:We present a case of a 49-year-old woman with two years of intermittent epigastric pain found to have an 8.5 cm head of the pancreas mass on CT. Evaluation was consistent with a mucinous cystic neoplasm for which she underwent an uneventful pancreaticoduodenectomy. Histology revealed a bronchogenic cyst of the head of the pancreas. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS:Bronchogenic cysts are congenital anomalies of the ventral foregut that can migrate into the abdomen prior to fusion of the diaphragm. They can easily be misdiagnosed for other benign and malignant retroperitoneal lesions. Similarly to mucinous cystic neoplasms, bronchogenic cysts have been reported to undergo malignant transformation. They can also become infected and hemorrhage. Therefore, resection should be performed in appropriate risk candidates. It is possible, with increased use of high resolution cross-sectional imaging, that these lesions may be identified with greater frequency in the abdomen and confused with other pancreatic neoplasms. The presence of ciliated respiratory epithelium and cartilage on pathology provides for definitive diagnosis.

Laparoscopic liver surgery has evolved over the last two decades. Advancements in surgical technology, surgical technique, and postoperative care have aided in lifting barriers to laparoscopic liver resection (LLR). In this review, the authors highlight the modern indications, benefits, safety, and feasibility of laparoscopic liver resections. Moreover, they analyze various studies comparing laparoscopic major hepatectomies to open surgery. Morbidity and mortality rates are at an all-time low in this era of laparoscopic liver surgery. The role of laparoscopy for oncologic resections is compared with open liver resections. Attention is given to oncologic margins and survival rates. In addition, the authors examine the safety and efficacy of LLR for nontraditional laparoscopic segments and tumors abutting major hepatic vasculature. Various resection techniques are reviewed including the use of the hanging-maneuver and modern stapling devices. Finally, they examine several novel techniques for laparoscopic liver resections including the hybrid technique, as is used in laparoscopic living donor hepatectomies, the use of hand-assistance to avoid conversion to open surgery, and the use of the robotic platform to aid in complex biliary or vascular reconstructions. Current barriers to laparoscopic liver surgery will continue to fall over the next decade.

BACKGROUND:Roux-en-Y anastomosis is the standard of care for biliary reconstruction. Yet, a direct bilio-biliary anastomosis preserves the normal sphincter mechanism and endoscopic access to the biliary tree for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Duct-to-duct biliary reconstruction is widely used in liver transplantation. The objective of this study was to analyze the feasibility and results of duct-to-duct biliary reconstruction in the setting of complex hepatic resection with limited biliary confluence involvement. METHODS:We identified patients from our prospectively maintained database that underwent major hepatic resection and bile duct resection with a concomitant direct duct-to-duct biliary anastomosis. Postoperative oncological and functional biliary outcomes were analyzed. RESULTS:Ten patients were studied. In 9 cases, a biliary stent was left in place to decompress the anastomosis. Two patients developed a biliary fistula: one resolved spontaneously and the other required percutaneous drainage and an endoscopic biliary stent. This latter patient (the only nonstented patient) also developed a biliary stricture that was treated endoscopically. With a mean follow-up of 22 months, no other biliary-related complications were recorded. No patients had a recurrence at the biliary reconstruction site only. In the setting of multifocal hepatic recurrence presenting with jaundice, two patients were palliated by interventional endoscopy. CONCLUSIONS:For hepatectomy requiring a short resection of the bile duct or for high bile duct injury during complex hepatectomy, a tension-free, well-vascularized duct-to-duct reconstruction over a stent is a suitable option that offers good oncological clearance of the bile duct and satisfactory functional results.

BACKGROUND & AIMS/OBJECTIVE:The aim of this study was to generate an improved prognostic model for predicting recurrence in liver transplant candidates with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS:Predictors of recurrence were tested by a Cox model analysis in a training cohort of 537 patients transplanted for HCC. A prognostic score was developed and validated in a national cohort of 435 patients followed up prospectively. RESULTS:α-Fetoprotein (AFP) independently predicted tumor recurrence and correlated with vascular invasion and differentiation. At a Cox score threshold of 0.7 (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.701; 95% confidence interval, 0.63-0.76; accuracy, 75.8%), a model combining log(10) AFP, tumor size, and number was highly predictive of tumor recurrence and death. By using a simplified version of the model, with untransformed AFP values, a cut-off value of 2 was identified. In the validation cohort, a score greater than 2 predicted a marked increase in 5-year risk of recurrence (50.6% ± 10.2% vs 8.8% ± 1.7%; P < .001) and decreased survival (47.5% ± 8.1% vs 67.8% ± 3.4%; P = .002) as compared with others. Among patients exceeding Milan criteria, a score of 2 or lower identified a subgroup of patients with AFP levels less than 100 ng/mL with a low 5-year risk of recurrence (14.4% ± 5.3% vs 47.6% ± 11.1%; P = .006). Among patients within Milan criteria, a score greater than 2 identified a subgroup of patients with AFP levels greater than 1000 ng/mL at high risk of recurrence (37.1% ± 8.9% vs 13.3% ± 2.0%; P < .001). Net reclassification improvement showed that predictability of the AFP model was superior to Milan criteria. CONCLUSIONS:Prediction of tumor recurrence is improved significantly by a model that incorporates AFP. We propose the adoption of new selection criteria for HCC transplant candidates, taking into account AFP.

We audited the seven surgical departments of a university hospital before and after implementation of a program aiming to improve practices in postoperative pain management (POPM). Audits were conducted 2 years apart. During each evaluation, 10 medical charts from each surgical department (i.e., 70 charts) were analyzed for 9 quality criteria (five concerning anesthetist practices and four nursing practices). Two scores were calculated: one per department and the other per criteria. After the first audit, the seven departments received recommendations to improve their POPM. Targeted-training sessions were instituted for the three poorest performing departments (scores <4.5 out of 9 criteria). During the period between the two audits, all seven departments improved their scores; a statistically significant improvement was observed in five departments, including the three that had received targeted-training sessions. Moreover, overall scores for seven of the nine evaluated criteria improved, significantly for three criteria. Anesthetists significantly increased their overall score from 2.5 ± 0.8 to 3.7 ± 0.6 out of 5 points (p=.018), while surgical nurses' overall score did not change significantly from 2.3 ± 0.7 to 2.9 ± 0.7 out of 4 points (p=.128). In conclusion, using a standardized and validated instrument to evaluate POPM practices enables the identification of surgical departments requiring practice improvement and those quality criteria requiring reinforcement.