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Background: Posthepatectomy liver failure (PHLF) remains a severe complication after liver resection. This retrospective study investigated the correlation of three hepatic functional tests and whether 99mTc-galactosyl human serum albumin (99mTc-GSA) scintigraphy and modified albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) score are useful for predicting PHLF., Methods: This retrospective cohort study included 413 consecutive patients undergoing hepatectomies between January 2017 and December 2020. To evaluate preoperative hepatic functional reserve, modified ALBI grade, indocyanine green clearance (ICG-R15), and 99mTc-GSA scintigraphy (LHL15) were examined before scheduled hepatectomy. Based on a retrospective chart review, multivariable logistic regression analysis adjusted for confounding factors was performed to confirm that mALBI, ICG-R15, and LHL15 are independent risk factors for PHLF., Results: ICG-R15 and LHL15 were moderately correlated (r =  - 0.61) but this correlation weakened when ICG-R15 was about ≥ 20. Weak correlations were observed between LHL15 and ALBI score (r =  - 0.269) and ALBI score and ICG-R15 (r = 0.339). Of 413 patients, 66 (19%) developed PHLF (20 grade A, 44 grade B, 2 grade C). Multivariable logistic regression analyses, major hepatectomy (P < 0.001), mALBI grade (P = 0.01), ICG-R15 (P < 0.001), and Esophagogastric varices (P = 0.007) were significant independent risk factors for PHLF. Subgroup analysis showed that ICG-R15 < 19, major hepatectomy, and mALBI grade and ICG-R15 ≥ 19, major hepatectomy, LHL15, and Esophagogastric varices were significant independent risk factors for PHLF (P = 0.033, 0.017, 0.02, 0.02, and 0.001, respectively)., Conclusion: LHL15, the assessment of Esophagogastric varices, and mALBI grade are complementary to ICG-R15 for predicting PHLF risk., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background/aims: Thoracoabdominal approach might be safe and facilitate hepatic resection for tumors located in the right lobe. To evaluate the clinical usefulness of the thoracoabdominal approach using oblique incision for the right-side hepatectomy, we compared the perioperative data with those of the abdominal approach., Methodology: The oblique incision for the thoracoabdominal approach was placed along the intercostal space (Oblique group, n=13). The J-shape incision for abdominal approach consisted of an upper median incision and transverse incision (J-shape group, n=13)., Results: Patient demographics were similar in the two groups. Operation time was significantly shorter in the oblique group (292 +/- 122 min) than in the J-shape group (450 +/- 137 min, p < 0.01). The difference was noted regardless of the extent of hepatic resection. Clamping time and blood loss were similar in the two groups. The postoperative period of use of analgesia tended to be shorter in the oblique group (9 +/- 3 days) than in the J-shape group (15 +/- 11 days) but not significant (p = 0.08). Postoperative liver function tests, complications and clinical outcome were not significantly different between the two groups., Conclusions: Thoracoabdominal approach using oblique incision was useful for resection of liver tumors located in the hepatic dome and posterior segment.

To clarify the relationship between morphological measurements of hepatic volume by computed tomography (CT-vol) and functional volume (RI-vol) by technetium-99m galactosyl human serum albumin (99mTc-GSA) scintigraphy, and its clinical significance, we examined 16 patients with a background liver status of either normal liver function (n=4), chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis (n=7), or obstructive jaundice (n=5). In five patients who underwent preoperative portal vein embolization (PVE), volumetric measurement was performed 2 weeks after PVE. The mean values of CT-vol and RI-vol of the right lobe were 692+/-147 cm3 (66.1+/-10.7%) and 668+/-159 cm3 (67.8+/-13.2%), respectively, and those of the left lobe were 329+/-138 cm3 (33.9+/-10.6%) and 328+/- 170 cm3 (32.2+/-13.2%), respectively. There were no significant differences in the volume measurements between the two volumetric techniques. Correlations between CT-vol and RI-vol in the right and left lobes were positive and significant (r=0.912 and 0.903, respectively; both P's<0.001). The mean values of post-PVE CT-vol and RI-vol of the right lobe in five patients were significantly different (628+/-149 and 456+/-211 cm3, respectively; P=0.033). However, the mean values of post-PVE CT-vol and RI-vol of the left lobe were not different (496+/-124 and 483+/-129 cm3, respectively). We propose that volumetric measurement by 99mTc-GSA scintigraphy is useful for detecting changes in functional volume of individual lobes of the liver and is a more dynamic method compared with detection of morphological changes by CT scan.

Background: To identify predictors of changes in hepatic volumes after portal vein embolization (PVE) before hepatectomy, we examined the relationship between clinicopathological parameters and changes in volume of embolized and nonembolized liver and regeneration of remnant liver after hepatectomy., Materials and Methods: The subjects were 25 patients who underwent laparotomy. PVE was performed through transileocolic vein (n = 15) and percutaneous transhepatic puncture (n = 10)., Results: Significant atrophy and hypertrophy of the embolized and nonembolized liver were observed after PVE, respectively, and further increase of remnant liver volume was observed after hepatectomy. Background liver disease did not seem to influence the results. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) level correlated negatively with atrophy of embolized lobe (r = -0.433). Platelet count correlated positively with hypertrophy of nonembolized lobe (r = 0.412, P < 0.05) and percent increase between lobes and (r = 0.515, P < 0.05). Seven (32%) patients developed postoperative complications, such as long-term ascites or cholestasis. Changes in embolized liver and percent increase between lobes in patients with postoperative cholestasis (-94 +/- 97 cm(3) and 9.6 +/- 5.1% gain) were significantly lower than those in patients without cholestasis (17 +/- 54 cm(3) and 6.6 +/- 1.3% gain, P < 0.05)., Conclusion: ALP and platelet counts might be able to predict PVE effect and were related to postoperative course. Identification of more specific predictors is desirable.

Background: Hepatic blood flow was associated with degree of hepatic damage. Measurements of blood flow using ultrasonography (US) may vary due to any observer's and patient's conditions. The utility of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) flowmetry in portal and hepatic veins was assessed., Patients and Methods: Using the phase-contrast method, the mean flow velocity of portal (PVF) and hepatic vein (HVF) were determined by MRI and US in 75 consecutive patients with liver diseases, including 58 patients undergoing hepatectomy. The correlations between these parameters and clinicopathological findings were examined., Results: PVF and HVF measured by MRI flowmetry were 12.8+/-4.5 and 14.7+/-5.3 cm/s, respectively. There was no significant correlation of both flows between MRI and US. PVF correlated significantly with portal pressure (r = -0.722; P < 0.05). There was a negative correlation between HVF and histological activity index score (r = -0.366; P < 0.05). PVF and HVF were lower in patients with cirrhosis and higher staging score (2-4) and PVF was lower in patients with higher grading score (2-3; P < 0.05). PVF and HVF were not significantly associated with postoperative complications., Conclusions: Our results suggest that MRI flowmetry is a potentially useful tool for measurement of hepatic blood flow and recommend its use for estimation of liver cirrhosis-associated impairment.

Background/aims: The aim of our retrospective study was to compare the factors contributing to postoperative complications according to the extent of hepatectomy., Methodology: We examined 166 patients with hepatobiliary carcinoma who underwent hepatectomy. Patients were divided into three groups according to the type and extent of hepatectomy: 1) left lobectomy (n=27), 2) right lobectomy or posterior segmentectomy (n=55) and 3) other hepatectomies (n=84). Patient demographics, major complications (infection, ascites, pleural effusion, atelectasis, static symptoms of the stomach, biliary leakage and hepatic failure) after hepatectomy were analyzed., Results: In patients with obstructive jaundice, lobectomy was the most commonly performed operation due to the extent of tumor along the main hepatic duct. Prolonged ascites or massive pleural effusion was frequently observed after right lobectomy (p=0.001) and posterior segmentectomy (p=0.002). However, the incidences of these complications were similar in patients with chronic viral hepatitis. Symptoms related to gastric stasis and biliary leakage were significantly more common after left lobectomy than other surgeries. The incidence of hepatic failure was higher (p<0.05) after major hepatectomy, particularly right lobectomy, than other surgeries., Conclusions: Our results emphasize the need to understand characteristics of specific complications occurring after different types of hepatic resection surgery to prevent post-hepatectomy complications.

Purpose: We evaluated the efficiency of measuring hyaluronic acid (HA) levels preoperatively in patients with injured liver disease as a predictor of complications after hepatectomy., Methods: We examined patients who underwent hepatectomy for liver tumors secondary to chronic viral liver diseases or obstructive jaundice., Results: The preoperative HA level correlated significantly with the indocyanine green retention rate at 15 min, liver activity at 15 min by technetium-99m galactosyl human serum albumin scientigraphy, and the histopathological activity index. It was also significantly elevated in patients with severe fibrosis caused by cirrhosis. After hepatectomy, the HA level was increased on postoperative day (PODS) 7, but had normalized by POD 28. The preoperative HA level tended to correlate with the regeneration rate on POD 28, and was significantly higher in patients with prolonged ascites or hepatic failure postoperatively. Multivariate analysis identified a serum HA level above 200 or 150 ng/ml as the only significant predictor of postoperative hepatic failure or long-term ascites, respectively (P < 0.05)., Conclusion: Our findings indicate that the preoperative serum HA level is a good predictor of postoperative complications in patients who undergo hepatectomy for injured liver disease.

Background: The relationship between patient prognosis and various tumor biological factors has been reported previously, and prognostic factors of tumor biology may improve predictions of prognosis after hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and may contribute to a new staging classification. This study was designed to provide an immunohistochemical analysis of tumor biological factors in patients who underwent hepatectomy for HCC., Methods: Factors analyzed included p53 overexpression, microvessel counts, proliferating cell nuclear antigen, and expression of nm23. We examined 81 HCCs from patients with chronic liver diseases., Results: In patients who underwent chemoembolization before surgery, or those a who had confluent multinodular tumor, p53 expression tended to be higher than in patients without chemoembolization (33% vs 11%) or those with a simple nodular tumor (28% vs 10%), but the difference was not statistically significant ( P = 0.051 and P = 0.092, respectively). A lower tumor microvessel count and negative nm23 expression were significantly associated with poor disease-free survival by univariate analysis ( P < 0.01 and P < 0.05, respectively). A lower tumor microvessel count was found to be a significant prognostic factor for disease-free and overall survivals (risk ratios, 2.44 and 3.13, respectively; P << 0.05), in addition to tumor size, vascular invasion, and longterm ascites, by Cox's multivariate analysis., Conclusions: Tumor microvessel count appears to be a useful prognostic marker for predicting HCC recurrence and patient survival.

Aims: The new staging system proposed by the Cancer of the Liver Italian Program (CLIP) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) accounts for both liver dysfunction and tumour characteristics. The present study was designed to analyze UICC TNM stage, CLIP and modified CLIP in 91 patients who underwent hepatic resection for HCC., Methods: In the modified CLIP, scoring of AFP was replaced by that of protein induced by vitamin K absence or antagonist II (PIVKA-II; predictive value, > or = 400 mAU/ml)., Results: After hepatic resection, 54 patients developed recurrent tumours. High PIVKA-II was a significant determinant of recurrence (p<0.05). However, a high score of the modified CLIP as well as those other staging systems did not correlate with tumour-recurrence rate. Univariate analysis showed that high TNM score, CLIP score and our modified CLIP score were significant predictors of poor prognosis. Multivariate Cox's analysis revealed that high PIVKA-II and high modified CLIP score were associated with higher risk for disease-free and overall survival as well as high TNM stage., Conclusions: Compared with the original CLIP, our modified CLIP was a better predictor of prognosis of HCC patients who underwent hepatic resection.

This study was designed to provide a histopathological analysis focusing on fibrosis (staging) and necroinflammatory reaction (grading, hepatitis activity index: HAI) in noncancerous liver tissue, and mitotic index (MI) in cancerous liver tissue to predict prognosis in 81 patients with chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis who underwent hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The incidence of grade 2/3 and higher HAI was higher in patients with viral hepatitis C. The incidence of grade 2/3 was associated with vascular invasion of HCC, postoperative liver dysfunction, and cancer recurrence. Higher MI (> or = 5) was significantly associated with vascular invasion, poor histological differentiation, and recurrence rate (P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that higher grade was the factor strongly associated with cancer recurrence (odds ratio: 10.621, P = 0.006). Higher MI correlated with overall patient survival (P < 0.05) by univariate analysis. Grading and MI are the useful prognostic markers for predicting tumor recurrence and patient survival.

Background and Aim: The serum hyaluronic acid (HA) concentrations reflect the degree of hepatic fibrosis and sinusoidal endothelial cell damage. The HA concentrations were examined to evaluate liver damage during the perioperative period of hepatectomy., Methods: The HA level of serum samples from 79 patients who underwent a hepatectomy was measured, and the results were compared to conventional liver function tests, the degree of fibrosis, liver regeneration and complications., Results: Hyaluronic acid concentrations correlated with the severe fibrosis or histological activity index, and also correlated with liver function tests including transaminase level, platelet counts, prothrombin time activity, indocyanine green retention rate at 15 min (ICG R15), liver activity at 15 min by technetium-99m galactosyl human serum albumin scintigraphy (LHL 15), and portal pressure. The HA level postoperatively correlated with liver function, especially with total bilirubin. Hyaluronic acid levels at day 28 postoperatively correlated with ICG R15 and LHL 15. The hyaluronic acid level before surgery and at day 28 postoperatively correlated with the regeneration of remnant liver in major hepatectomy. The HA levels were significantly higher in patients with hepatic failure or prolonged ascites., Conclusion: Our results indicate that the measurement of the HA level is useful for monitoring liver damage or predicting complications associated with liver surgery.

Background. α-Fetoprotein (AFP) has been used as a marker for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, AFP levels are often high in patients with chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis. Protein-induced vitamin K absence or antagonist II (PIVKA-II) is more sensitive for the diagnosis of HCC and prediction of patient survival. Changes in these markers after treatment may reflect treatment curability and patient outcome. Methods. We conducted a retrospective analysis of prognosis of 63 HCC patients with high preoperative levels of AFP and PIVKA-II who underwent hepatectomy and examined the relationship between postoperative changes in both markers at 1 month and patient survival. Subjects were divided into three groups according to changes in these tumour markers after hepatectomy: normalization (N) group, decreased but still above the normal level (D) group and unchanged (U) group. Results. There were no significant differences in the numbers of patients who developed tumour recurrence between changes in AFP and PIVKA-II. Survival analysis showed no significant differences in tumour-free and overall survivals between groups with respect to AFP level. The PIVKA-II-N group showed significantly better tumour-free and overall survival compared with the D and U groups ( p [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]