Feasibility and educational value of fluorescence cholangiography in laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

INTRODUCTION: Near-infrared fluorescence cholangiography during a laparoscopic cholecystectomy has become widely accepted as a useful auxiliary tool to visualize the extrahepatic biliary structures. We investigated the feasibility and educational value of a method with longer interval between the administration of indocyanine green and the imaging of these structures. METHODS: Approximately 18 hours before their surgery, patients (n = 51) were intravenously administered 0.25 mg/kg of indocyanine green. Each laparoscopic cholecystectomy was performed under fluorescence imaging in combination with white-light imaging. Operative outcomes including visualization of the extrahepatic biliary structures and operative time were compared between the patients on whom board-certified surgeons operated (feasibility phase; n = 18) and the patients on whom a surgery resident operated (educational phase; n = 33). RESULTS: There were no adverse events related to the longer interval method. The visualization rates of extrahepatic biliary structures were comparable between the two phases. Both the mean time to divide the cystic duct and the mean time to remove the gallbladder in the educational phase were significantly longer than those in the feasibility phase (68.2 vs 24.4 minutes and 30.2 vs 15.8 minutes, P < .001 each). There was no significant difference in other operative outcomes. The operative time learning curve did not decrease with a resident's experience. CONCLUSIONS: Fluorescence cholangiography with the longer interval method was feasible and could identify the extrahepatic biliary structures irrespective of the surgeon's experience; however, it did not decrease the operative time with experience.

[Long-Term Survival after Surgery with Postoperative Chemotherapy for Perihilar Cholangiocarcinoma with Residual Invasive Carcinoma at Ductal Resection Margins-A Case Report].

A 64-year-old man with liver dysfunction was given a diagnosis of perihilar cholangiocarcinoma(Bismuth type Ⅳ). The tumor was predominantly right-sided and invaded to the bifurcation of the right and left portal veins. After confirming sufficient liver functional reserve and future liver remnant, the patient underwent extended right hepatectomy, extrahepatic bile duct resection, and portal vein resection and reconstruction. Intraoperative examination of frozen sections revealed the presence of residual invasive carcinoma on both the hepatic and duodenal sides of the ductal resection margins. However, we did not perform pancreaticoduodenectomy or additional resection of the margin-positive proximal bile duct considering the curability and invasiveness of these procedures. He received postoperative chemotherapy with biweekly gemcitabine plus cisplatin for 1 year, followed by gemcitabine monotherapy for 1 year, and S-1 monotherapy has been performed since then. He remains alive and well with no evidence of disease 63 months after surgery.