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Background Aims: Obstructive jaundice is a factor which effects hepatic blood flow and the relative contribution of the hepatic arterial flow and portal venous flow. In this study, and were measured in conscious dogs and the influence of biliary obstruction and drainage was investigated., Material and Methods: Hepatic arterial flow (HAF) and portal venous flow (PVF) after biliary obstruction and subsequent drainage were continuously measured in conscious dogs using implantable transit time ultrasonic flow-meters., Results: After biliary obstruction hepatic arterial flow rapidly increased compared to the pre-obstructed values(p < 0.01), while portal venous flow was significantly decreased (p < 0.01). Total hepatic blood flow was initially increased (p < 0.01) until 2 hours after obstruction. It then decreased gradually. After 2 weeks, it was less than the pre-obstructed values, but this was not significant. Biliary drainage was performed after 2 weeks. Hepatic arterial flow subsequently decreased (p < 0.01) and portal venous flow increased (p < 0.05). Blood flow did not change., Conclusion: Biliary obstruction resulted in significant changes in liver circulation. Biliary drainage facilitated recovery from these changes.

An interportal communicating branch was found at the hepatic bifurcation in two (2.4%) out of 83 hepatectomized cases of carcinoma of the biliary tract. The first case was a 54-year-old male with intrahepatic bile duct cancer, and the second was a 64-year-old female with gallbladder cancer. No other anatomical anomalies were found in the portal vein, hepatic artery, or biliary tract.

A case of cholangiocellular carcinoma in the caudate lobe with intraluminal growth in the extrahepatic bile duct is reported. The main tumor in the caudate lobe was detected by computed tomography and angiography, and two intraluminal tumors at the hepatic hilus and at the root of the right posterior segmental duct were well demonstrated by cholangiography and percutaneous transhepatic cholangioscopy. Independent total caudate lobectomy with bile duct resection was performed. Cholangiocellular carcinoma of the liver with intraluminal growth in the extrahepatic bile duct is very rare and has not been reported in the literature. Independent caudate lobe resection requires a rather complicated technique. However, this method has the advantage of reducing to a minimum the hepatic volume to be resected, and is useful for poor-risk patients or for cases with localized carcinoma at the hepatic hilus.

The case of a mucin-producing intrahepatic cholangiocellular carcinoma in a 73 year-old-man is presented. A tumor originating in the right posterior inferior segment of the liver was found to be invading the right posterior and anterior bile ducts, and the hepatic hilus. Extensive superficial spread was observed in the entire posterior segmental bile duct extending to the hepatic hilus. Mucin produced and excreted by the tumor was retained in the common hepatic and common bile duct. The diagnosis in this case was suggested by percutaneous transhepatic aspiration of mucinous bile, and was confirmed by utilizing the techniques of ultrasonography, percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography, computed tomography and angiography. Curative surgery, which included right hepatic lobectomy with total caudate lobectomy and bile duct resection, was performed. Biliary continuity was maintained by left hepaticojejunostomy using a Roux-en-Y jejunal loop. The histological diagnosis was mucin-producing papillary adenocarcinoma originating in the right posterior inferior segment of the liver. Postoperative recovery was very good and the patient has now been enjoying a good active social life for the last 20 months with no signs of tumor recurrence. This case report discusses the unusual growth pattern of a mucin-producing intrahepatic cholangiocellular carcinoma involving the hepatic hilus, and suggests rational surgical treatment.

We describe a 54-year-old asymptomatic male with carcinoma of the hepatic hilus. Elevated serum transaminases were detected during the annual medical examination. The diagnosis was confirmed by ultrasonography (US), computed tomography (CT), percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography (PTC) and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). Curative surgery, which included right hepatic lobectomy with total caudate lobectomy, was performed. The resected specimen revealed a localized tumor in the right anterosuperior dorsal intrahepatic bile duct branch. The histological diagnosis was moderately differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma. The patient's postoperative recovery was smooth and he has remained in good health for 15 months after surgery without any signs of recurrence. This case report discusses the early diagnosis and rational surgical treatment for carcinoma of the hepatic hilus.

Twenty-four patients with advanced carcinoma of the gallbladder and/or the bile duct underwent hepatopancreatoduodenectomy, that is, en bloc hepatic resection with pancreatoduodenectomy. They included 14 cases of gallbladder carcinoma, nine cases of bile duct carcinoma, and one case of double cancer of the gallbladder and the bile duct. Eleven kinds of hepatic lobectomy or segmentectomy with pancreatoduodenectomy were carried out, and the caudate lobe was also removed en bloc from 17 patients with carcinoma involving the hepatic hilus. Combined resection of the portal vein was performed in 11 patients, of the inferior vena cava in 2, and of the colon in 5, patients. Forty-four postoperative complications occurred in 22 patients (91.7%). The operative mortality rate was 12.5% (3/24). The median survival and the 2-year survival rate were 7.0 months and 17.9% for all 24 patients, including 3 operative deaths, or 11.0 months and 20.4% for 21 patients surviving hepatopancreatoduodenectomy, and 12.4 months and 20.8% for all 14 patients with gallbladder carcinoma, and 5.2 months and 14.8% for all 9 patients with bile duct carcinoma. The longest survivor died of recurrent tumors at 5 years and 7 months. Hepatopancreatoduodenectomy offered not only an unexpectedly long survival period, but also unexpected morbidity in some cases.

A case of resected intrahepatic bile duct cancer with hilar bile duct and portal vein invasion is presented. Percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage was performed to alleviate jaundice and evaluate the biliary system. Intraductal tumor extension was determined, and an accurate histological diagnosis was made in biopsy material obtained under percutaneous transhepatic cholangioscopy. Preoperative surgical planning was carried out on the basis of an evaluation of the findings of ultrasonography, computed tomography, arteriography, portography and percutaneous transhepatic cholangioscopy. Curative surgery, which included right hepatic lobectomy with total caudate lobectomy and combined resection and reconstruction of the portal vein, was performed. Bilioenteric continuity was re-established by a Roux-en-Y jejunal loop. The histological diagnosis was moderately differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma originated in the right posterior branch of the intrahepatic bile duct. Postoperative recovery was very good, and the patient has now been enjoying a good active social life for the past three years with no signs of tumor recurrence. This case report discusses the accurate diagnosis and rational surgical treatment for intrahepatic bile duct carcinoma with hilar invasion.

Seven cases of hepato-biliary and pancreatic malignancies that underwent partial resection of the inferior vena cava) were reviewed. Histological findings of inferior venca cava involvement were direct invasion in 5 cases, tumor thrombus in 1 case, and adhesion in 1 case. Correct preoperative diagnosis of inferior vena cava involvement was made in only 2 cases. A retrospective study on enhanced CT revealed that irregular deformity of the inferior vena cava had suggested inferior vena cava involvement. Total occlusion of the inferior vena cava was employed temporarily for inferior vena cava resection in 3 cases. A saphenous vein graft was used for reconstruction in 2 cases. Complications due to inferior vena cava resection are, as yet, unknown. One patient is alive, without recurrence, 24 months after the operation. One case underwent re-resection of liver metastasis, and is alive 17 months after the operation. Although advanced hepato-biliary and pancreatic malignancies involving inferior vena cava have been regarded as having a poor prognosis, an aggressive surgical approach may be applicable in some cases.

Twelve limbs with Buerger's disease were examined by measurement of segmental blood pressure, digital arterial oxygen saturation and flow velocity in the foot, before and after distal arterial bypass grafting. Eight out of 12 grafts were patent in a follow-up of 6 months to 2 years and one month. Patients with low distal blood pressure before operation obtained a small increase of the foot and toe pressures postoperatively, whereas patients with relatively good initial distal blood pressure were likely to acquire a remarkable recovery of the foot and toe blood pressures. In all 8 limbs with successful revascularization, blood flow velocity in the foot returned to normal, while the foot or the toe pressures remained pathological in 7 of the 8 limbs and digital arterial oxygen saturation did not revert to normal in 4 limbs, with ulceration after healing of the lesion. Postoperative normalization of the foot flow velocity was predictive of limb salvage. The most characteristic feature of peripheral arterial occlusive disease is a stagnation in the microvascular circulation and improvement of the reduced flow velocity is a goal of surgical or conservative treatment.