Living Donor Liver Transplantation in an Elderly Recipient with Preserved Performance Status : A Case Report.

Background: Living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) in an elderly recipient is controversial. Case presentation: We report a case of LDLT in a 74-year-old female who had decompensated liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). She was the oldest recipient who received LDLT in Japan ever. She was rejected for LDLT at a nearby hospital because of her age.We decided to perform LDLT because her general condition was good (the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status 2 ). The surgery was uncomplicated and the postoperative course was uneventful, and the patient was discharged 35 days after the surgery. Currently she is living at home, and she has maintained a good quality of life. Conclusions: We believe that a recipient in good general condition is capable of undergoing LDLT despite advanced age.

[Case report of introducing MMF and steroids as an immunosuppressive therapy after living-donor liver transplantation for a patient with the diabetic nephropathy].

Calcineurin inhibitor (CNI) combined with mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) and steroid is mainly used as immunosuppressive therapy after the living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT). However, the nephrotoxicity caused by CNI remains a critical problem for patients with chronic renal failure, especially on early postoperative period. A 62-year-old woman with decompensated liver cirrhosis secondary to hepatitis B (Child-Pugh C, MELD score 11 points) and chronic renal failure due to diabetic nephropathy (Cr 1.56 mg/dl, GFR 27 ml/min/1.73 m2) experienced LDLT. During the reconstruction of hepatic vein, the supra-and infra-hepatic vena cava was totally clamped. The estimated right lobe liver graft volume was 540 g, representing 51.3% of the standard liver volume of the recipient. Because of the perioperative renal dysfunction due to diabetic nephropathy and the total clamping the vena cava which induced the congestion kidney, MMF (1500 mg/day) and steroid (250 mg/day converted into predonisolone) were mainly introduced as an immunosuppressive therapy after LDLT. The low-dose CNI, tacrolimus also induced the nephrotoxicity and was given for only a short time. Finally, according to the postoperative renal function, the low-dose CNI, cyclosporin (50 mg/day) was able to be added to the introduced immunosuppressive therapy. After having left the hospital, MMF (1500 mg/day), steroid (20 mg/day converted into predonisolone) and cyclosporin (75 mg/day) continued to be given as the immunosuppressive therapy and neither acute graft rejection nor drug-induced renal dysfunction was occurred. This is a case report of introducing with mainly MMF and steroid as an immunosuppressive therapy after LDLT for a patient with perioperative renal dysfunction.

Effect of proton pomp inhibitor (PPI : Rabeprazole) on reflux esophagitis after endoscopic injection sclerotherapy (EIS), a randomized control study (24 hour-pH monitoring).

BACKGROUND: Transient esophageal ulceration is a common finding after sclerotherapy of varices. These ulcers sometimes cause pain, ulcer bleeding, and stricture formation. Gastroesophageal reflux (GER) after Endoscopic injection sclerotherapy (EIS) is a known cause of worsening ulcer formation. Therefore, an efficient drug for GER is desirable to improve the quality of life of patients with esophageal varices. METHODS: We randomized 18 Japanese cirrhotic patients who had risky esophageal varices. The patients were randomly allocated into two groups, and during EIS sessions, one group was administered proton pump inhibitor(PPI) (Rabeprazole 20 mg a person once a day), while the other received histamine H2 receptor antagonist (H2-blocker) (famotidine 20 mg a person, twice a day). Gastroesophageal reflux was monitored by a 24-h pH-monitoring catheter introduced into the distal esophagus. Ulcer formation was evaluated using an endoscopic examination. The subjective and objective symptoms were also compared between the two groups. RESULTS: All patients in the H2-blocker group showed an increased percentage of time with pH < 4.0 after EIS sessions, but no patients in the PPI group showed an increased such symptoms. The H2-blocker group also experienced a significantly higher number of days of heartburn and dysphasia than did the PPI group (p = 0.017, p = 0.042). The rate of ulcer improvement was found to be faster in Rabeprazole group than in H2 blocker group (p = 0.008). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that Rabeprazole treatment prevents EIS-associated gastroesophageal reflux and promotes ulcer healing. Rabeprazole also improve the subjective symptoms following EIS.

[Successful laparoscopic repair of delayed traumatic abdominal wall hernia].

The occurrence of traumatic abdominal wall hernia secondary to blunt trauma is uncommon, and laparoscopic repair of such hernias is very rare. A 53-year-old man, who had sustained injuries to his right thigh and right abdomen 8 months previously, visited a hospital because of a bulge in the right lateral abdomen. An abdominal computed tomography scan revealed a rupture in the lateral abdominal muscle and herniation of the cecum into the subcutaneous space. Accordingly, delayed traumatic abdominal wall hernia was diagnosed, which was successfully repaired laparoscopically. Thus, a laparoscopic tension-free mesh repair was safely and effectively performed for delayed traumatic abdominal wall hernia.

Mirror image hepatectomy in a patient with situs inversus totalis.

BACKGROUND: Hepatectomy in a patient with situs inversus patient is technically challenging because of its complete mirror image anatomy, especially for a tumor located deep in the liver. Incorrectly identifying intrahepatic vessels and biliary system would lead to serious complications. We experienced a hepatectomy for a tumor in a patient with situs inversus totalis with referring to computer-generated mirror images. METHODS: A 66-year-old female patient with situs inversus totalis was diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma, 5 cm in diameter, centrally located just above the hepatic hilum compressing the right and left hepatic duct. The liver infected with hepatitis C was cirrhotic with a moderate amount of ascites. We preoperatively created several diagrams of the mirror image anatomy and made plans for how to resect this tumor, presupposing the patient had an ordinary anatomy. The tumor was successfully enucleated with referring to these diagrams. RESULTS: The operation time was 454 minutes. Five units of fresh frozen plasma was transfused intraoperatively. Although she suffered refractory ascites which needed repeated paracentesis, she managed to leave the hospital two months after the operation. CONCLUSION: Creating a mirror image anatomy enables surgeons to safely perform a complex hepatectomy in a patient with situs inversus totalis.

Rex shunt for portal vein thrombosis after adult living donor liver transplantation.

Portal vein thrombosis (PVT) after liver transplantation is a relatively common but serious complication which could lead to portal hypertension or a direct graft loss. A "Rex" shunt created between the superior mesenteric vein (SMV) and the umbilical portion of the left portal vein can be a useful option to treat PVT after pediatric liver transplantation, however, its application to adult patients has not been reported so far because appropriate vein grafts are hardly available. Herein we present a case of PVT after left lobe living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) who underwent the procedure using the own inferior jugular vein and the gonadal vein as a shunt graft. The shunt was patent immediately after the procedure but was thrombosed 2 days after probably due to the insufficient inflow from the SMV and the absence of anticoagulation therapy, for which emergent thrombectomy and ligation of the significant hepatofugal collateral veins followed by full anti-coagulation therapy were performed. The shunt remains open at 8 month after the procedure with a normal anmonia level and liver function. In conclusion, the Rex shunt using recipient's autologous vein grafts is a feasible and valuable option for adult patients to treat PVT after LDLT.

Rendezvous technique treatment for late-onset biliary leakage after major hepatectomy of a living donor: report of a case.

Biliary leakage is a major complication after hepatectomy. We report the case of a living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT) donor with a late-onset bile leak from the trifurcation of the hepatic duct who was successfully treated using rendezvous technique. A 52-year-old man underwent extended left hepatectomy for donation and was discharged on postoperative day (PD) 13. However, he was rehospitalized on PD 26 with severe abdominal pain. Physical examination suggested panperitonitis, and abdominocentesis showed bilious ascites. Emergent laparotomy for biliary leakage and peritonitis was performed. There was bilious ascites in the peritoneal cavity. A biliary fistula was recognized at the trifurcation of B8a, B8b, and B5. Intraoperative transhepatic biliary drainage of each bile duct was performed. Endoscopic transpapillary drainage was performed on PD 24. Finally, external drains were removed and complete internal drainage established on PD 70. The bile leak was considered to be the result of injury from electrocautery device. Appropriate making choices of the electrocautery devices enable us to avoid over thermal injury of the liver surface. Rendezvous bidirectional drainage effectively treated late-onset bile leakage from the trifurcation of a hepatic bile duct.

[Patient with bulky duodenum GIST became complete resection possible after primary systemic therapy: a case report].

A case was a 77 years old male. Exertional breathlessness was a chief complaint, and anemia was pointed out. A duodenum GIST was detected by gastroscopy. The CT scan showed infiltration in an inferior vena cava, the right kidney, and an ascending colon, so we judged that radical cure resection was difficult. We started Imatinib medication. Six months after the medication start, because the border with surroundings also became clear, we became a plan of the operation. The tumor existed in the descending limb of duodenum and the distance with papilla Vater was maintained, so the complete excision by duodenal portion resection was possible for it. Although meaning of primary systemic therapy for GIST was not established, it was shown that medicating Imatinib to the high-level partial advance GIST before an operation may become an effective cure which avoids an extended operation and makes complete resection of a tumor possible.

[Laparoscopic repair of incarcerated diaphragmatic hernia as a late complication of laparoscopic right hepatectomy: a case report].

Incarcerated diaphragmatic hernia after laparoscopic right hepatectomy is very rare. An 81-year-old man underwent laparoscopic right hepatectomy for giant hepatic hemangioma. Twenty months after the surgery, he began to complain of nausea and abdominal pain and was brought to our hospital. Chest X-ray showed an abdominal gas shadow above the right diaphragm and computed tomography showed herniation of the colon into the right thoracic cavity. We diagnosed ileus due to incarcerated diaphragmatic hernia and performed emergency operation under laparoscopic surgery. After successfully reducing the prolapsed colon back to the abdominal cavity, the diaphragmatic hernia orifice was repaired. Incarcerated diaphragmatic hernia sometimes causes the fatal state. Clinicians must therefore consider such findings a late complication of laparoscopic hepatectomy.

Case of early adenosquamous carcinoma of the stomach.

Adenosquamous carcinoma of the stomach is very rare; at present, there are only seven published reports. We report here an eighth case involving a 77-year-old Japanese man who was diagnosed with gastric cancer by upper endoscopy and computed tomography (CT). He underwent laparoscopic-assisted distal gastrectomy for early gastric cancer and the resected specimen was diagnosed as adenosquamous carcinoma limited to the submucosal layer. Only one lymph node metastasis was noted. Seven months later, liver metastasis (3 tumors, 15 mm maximum in diameter) was detected by abdominal CT. He was started on chemotherapy with S-1 and cisplatin (CDDP) and is alive 14 months after surgery. Almost all cases of adenosquamous carcinoma of the stomach are diagnosed in advanced stages and carry a very poor prognosis. Most patients with early adenosquamous carcinoma of the stomach survive for 2 or more years without recurrence, however our patient experienced recurrence 7 months after surgery. Therefore, future treatment for recurrent adenosquamous carcinoma of the stomach should be considered.

Total resection of the right hepatic vein drainage area with the aid of three-dimensional computed tomography.

PURPOSE: We analyzed the feasibility and safety of our preliminary surgical approach for total hepatic resection of the right hepatic vein drainage area (THR-RHV) with the aid of three-dimensional computed tomography (3D-CT) guidance. METHODS: Clinical findings and 3D-CT volumetry results were investigated in five patients who underwent THR-RHV for a hepatic malignant tumor close to the right hepatic vein (RHV). RESULTS: The mean estimated remnant liver volume after a conventional right lobectomy was 474 ml, whereas that after THR-RHV was 614 ml, indicating that 140 ml (13.8%) of additional liver volume had been preserved by performing THR-RHV. The median operative time, mean ischemic time, and mean blood loss during surgery were 406 min, 51 min, and 587 ml, respectively. Histological examinations confirmed a negative surgical margin in all five patients. The mean liver volume estimated by 3D-CT was 458 ml, whereas the mean actual resected liver volume was 468 g, resulting in a mean error ratio of 3.1%. CONCLUSIONS: THR-RHV allowed for a higher remnant liver volume than that after conventional right lobectomy of the liver, and proved feasible with acceptable perioperative results. This technique thus promotes both safety and curability for patients with a tumor close to the RHV.

Improvement of long-term outcomes in hepatitis C virus antibody-positive patients with hepatocellular carcinoma after hepatectomy in the modern era.

BACKGROUND: The present study was conducted to clarify the causes of recent improvement of outcomes after hepatectomy in patients with hepatitis C (HC)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: From 1990 to 2006, 323 curative liver resections for HC-HCC were performed in our department. The patients were divided into two groups: early period (1990-1999: n=221) and the late period (2000-2006: n=102). Prognostic factors were determined to clarify the cause of the survival improvement in the modern era. RESULTS: The overall survival rates for the patients in the early and late periods were 54.9 and 70.3% at 5 years, respectively (P=0.0005). There was no difference in the recurrence-free survival rates between the two groups, although both survival without recurrence (P=0.0003) and survival after recurrence (P=0.0063) were significantly better in the late period than in the early period. Patients with better liver function, patients with interferon (IFN) therapy and patients with subsegmentectomy were selected more frequently, and the incidence of blood transfusion was decreased in the late period below the level recorded in the early period. For recurrent HCC, lipiodolization decreased and local ablation therapy increased in the late period. The independent prognostic factors for overall survival were preoperative serum levels of albumin and alanine aminotransferase, histological liver cirrhosis, tumor size, intrahepatic metastasis, histological grade, blood transfusion, and IFN therapy. CONCLUSIONS: In HC-HCC, survival was improved in the late period of the present study. Selection of patients with good liver function, no blood transfusion with reduction of blood loss, anti-hepatitis C virus therapy with IFN, and introduction of local ablation therapy for HCC recurrence may be related to the improved survival.

Pure laparoscopic right hepatectomy in the semi-prone position using the intrahepatic Glissonian approach and a modified hanging maneuver to minimize intraoperative bleeding.

PURPOSE: Although laparoscopic liver resection has been widely adopted, performing a pure laparoscopic right hepatectomy remains a challenging procedure. The aim of this report is to evaluate the efficiency of a pure laparoscopic right hepatectomy (PLRH) in the semi-prone position using the intrahepatic Glissonian approach and a modified hanging maneuver. METHODS: Pure laparoscopic right hepatectomy was performed in the semi-prone position with the use of an intrahepatic Glissonian approach and modified hanging maneuver for patients with primary liver cancer (n = 3) and metastatic liver cancer (n = 1). RESULTS: The intraoperative total blood loss was only 95-140 g (mean: 126.2 g). None of the patients required a blood transfusion, and no serious complications were encountered. The durations of the surgeries ranged from were 308 to 445 min (mean: 394.8 min). The postoperative hospital stay was 8-11 days (mean 9.5 days). CONCLUSION: Pure laparoscopic right hepatectomy in the semi-prone position using the intrahepatic Glissonian approach and a modified hanging maneuver is thus considered to be a safe modality, which minimizes intraoperative bleeding.

Superdrainage of the ileocolic vein to the internal jugular vein interposed by an inferior mesenteric vein graft in replacing the esophagus with the right hemicolon.

The fear of serious complications, such as a necrotic conduit caused by an impaired blood circulation can arise when replacing the esophagus with an intestinal conduit. The aim of this paper is to present effective superdrainage of an intestinal conduit using an inferior mesenteric vein (IMV) interposition graft. In 2008, we performed superdrainage of the ileocolic vein to the internal jugular vein interposed by an IMV graft in replacing the esophagus with the right hemicolon for advanced thoracic esophageal cancer in three patients with a synchronous gastric cancer or a previous gastrectomy. No leakage at the enteric anastomoses occurred. Neither ischemic lesions in these intestinal conduits nor complications caused by harvesting an IMV graft were observed. Superdrainage of the ileocolic vein to the internal jugular vein interposed by an IMV graft effectively improves the blood circulation in intestinal conduits brought up to the neck as an esophageal replacement.

Effect of Sarcopenic Obesity on Outcomes of Living-Donor Liver Transplantation for Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND/AIM: We aimed to evaluate the effect of body composition on the outcome of living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: We performed LDLT in 153 patients with HCC and divided the patients into two groups based on skeletal muscle mass-to-visceral fat area ratio (SVR), as assessed by computed tomography (CT) measurement, namely a low-SVR group (n=38) and a not-low SVR group (n=112). We compared surgical outcomes between the two groups. RESULTS: A low SVR was significantly correlated with a higher body mass index and male sex. No differences were found between the two groups in terms of other factors. The patients in the low-SVR group had a significantly poorer prognosis than those in the not-low SVR group in terms of recurrence-free (p=0.01) and overall (p=0.03) survival. The results of the multivariate analysis showed low SVR to be an independent and prognostic indicator for patients with HCC who had undergone LDLT. CONCLUSION: Pre-transplant body composition measured by CT is a major determinant of prognosis in LDLT for HCC in Japan.

Left lobe living donor liver transplantation in an adult patient with situs inversus: technical considerations.

Situs inversus (SI) is a rare congenital disorder involving a complete mirror image of the thoracic and abdominal organs. Living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) in SI cases poses particular challenges on account of its technical complexity, and only a few cases have been reported. Here, we present an adult with SI who was managed successfully by LDLT using a left lobe graft. Some technical modifications, including triangulated anastomosis of the hepatic vein, were required but no vascular graft was necessary. Graft function and vascular integrity were excellent throughout the postoperative course, although sepsis secondary to wound infection with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus developed. In conclusion, LDLT using a left lobe graft is a feasible procedure for patients with SI, even for adults. Therefore, this condition, while rare, should not be a contraindication for LDLT. Meticulous preoperative simulation and planning of the vascular reconstruction are important steps in LDLT for this rare anomaly.