Hepatic Arterioportal Fistula Is Associated with Decreased Future Liver Remnant Regeneration after Stage-I ALPPS for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients often developed hepatic arterioportal fistula (APF). The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of APF on future liver remnant (FLR) regeneration and surgical outcomes after the first stage of associating liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy (stage-I ALPPS). Consecutive HCC patients who underwent ALPPS at our center between March 2017 and May 2019 were retrospectively studied. Data for the association between APF and clinicopathological details, liver volume, and surgical outcomes were analyzed. The enrolled 35 HCC patients were divided into three groups: 15 patients with preoperative APF were classified as the APF I group, 10 patients developed APF after stage-I ALPPS as the APF II group, whereas the other 10 patients without APF before and after stage-I ALPPS as the control group. After stage-I ALPPS, patients in the APF I and APF II groups had lower kinetic growth rate (KGR) of FLR volume (6.1±3.2%, 11.4±8.4%, 25.0±8.8% per week, respectively, P