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Background: Australian life expectancy is high by world standards, largely because of advanced health care. It is therefore important to determine safety and oncological benefits of major surgical procedures in the elderly. This retrospective review examines outcomes of liver resection in octogenarians. Methods: Data on all liver resections performed at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital were collected in a prospective database. The primary aim was to determine overall and disease‐free survival, and secondary aim to assess perioperative quality of life (QoL) and functionality outcomes using surrogate markers. Results: Twenty‐four octogenarians underwent 26 liver resections for colorectal liver metastases (n = 20), hepatocellular carcinoma (n = 4), cholangiocarcinoma (n = 1) and benign lesion (n = 1). Median hospital stay was 11 days. There were no major post‐operative complications and only one patient experienced a decline in QoL. There was no 90‐day mortality. Five‐year overall survival and 5‐year disease‐free survival were 47% and 37%, respectively. Median duration of follow‐up was 34 months. Conclusion: Liver resection can be performed safely in octogenarians with low morbidity, excellent overall survival and good QoL outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Liver resections for non‐colorectal non‐neuroendocrine liver metastases (NCNELM) are gaining popularity. This study examines the outcomes of liver resections in patients with NCNELM in an Australian hospital. Method: A database search identified 21 attempted liver resections on 20 patients (12 men, eight women, mean age: 63.1) from 1998 to 2013. A retrospective analysis considered patient demographics and primary malignancy details. Complication rates were compared to those for colorectal metastases at the same institution. Kaplan–Meier curves were used to plot overall survival. Results: Complete resection was achieved in 16 of the 21 operations with 13 cases having proven metastases (three cases were benign lesions on final histology). Primary cancers were gastric (n = 4), gall bladder/bile duct (n = 3), renal (n = 3), soft tissue sarcoma (n = 3), melanoma (n = 2), pancreatic (n = 2), anal (n = 2), breast (n = 1) and unknown (n = 1). Primary histology types were adenocarcinoma (n = 10), sarcoma (n = 3), renal cell (n = 3), squamous cell (n = 2), melanoma (n = 2) and gastrointestinal stromal tumour (n = 1). There was no peri‐operative mortality. Significant post‐operative complications (Clavien–Dindo Grade III or more) occurred in six patients (28.5%). Overall survival at 2 and 5 years was 46.2% and 30.8%, respectively, for all 21 cases of attempted resection, and 51.9% and 34.6%, respectively, for the 13 cases of complete resection of malignant metastases. Conclusions: This study produced comparable 5‐year survival rates to those reported after liver resection for colorectal metastases and in other studies on NCNELM. Complication rates were comparable to those for colorectal liver metastasis resection at the same institution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The majority of analysed patients with cholangitis have hepatic fibrosis8 and the development of severe hepatic fibrosis in the presence of multiple intrahepatic stones may lead to LT, even in the setting of preserved liver function. Biliary atresia is a rare progressive inflammatory destruction of the bile ducts in the perinatal period, with complete obstruction of all or part of the extrahepatic bile ducts leading to liver fibrosis and ultimately liver failure. [Extracted from the article]