[The role of vascular resection and reconstruction in the treatment of hilar cholangiocarcinoma].
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the role of vascular resection and reconstruction in the treatment of hilar cholangiocarcinoma.


METHODS
117 patients with potentially resectable hilar cholangiocarcinoma underwent exploration. Twenty-one patients had exploration or drainage only due to distant metastases, and the other 96 patients received surgical resection. Thirty-one of those had vascular resection and reconstruction, including portal vein resection alone in 21 patients, combined hepatic artery and portal vein resection in 2 and hepatic artery resection alone in 8. Therefore, the patients were divided into four groups: non-surgical resection (21), portal vain resection (21), hepatic artery resection (10) and non-vascular resection (65) and their clinical data were reviewed retrospectively.


RESULTS
The hepatic artery resection group had significantly higher perioperative morbidity and mortality rate (80.0% and 20.0%) than non-vascular resection group (16.9% and 1.5%), respectively, (P < 0.05), while no significant difference was found between the portal vein resection alone group and the non-vascular resection group (P > 0.05). Of all resected vessel specimens, vascular wall invasion beyond the adventitia was pathologically confirmed in 82.6% of the portal veins and 50.0% of the hepatic arteries. The 1-, 3- and 5-year survival rates were 59.0%, 34.0%, and 16.0% in the non-vascular resection group, versus 44.0%, 23.0% and 11.0% in the portal vein resection alone group (P < 0.05) and 18.0%, 0 and 0 in the hepatic artery resection group (P < 0.01), respectively, with a significant difference among the three groups. The 1-, 3- and 5-year survival rates in the non-surgical resection group were 13.0%, 0 and 0, respectively, which were similar to those in the hepatic artery resection group. Though a significant difference in survival rates existed between the portal vein resection alone group and non-resected group (P < 0.001), no significant difference was found between the hepatic artery resection group and non-resected group (P > 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Both portal vein and hepatic artery resection can improve resection rate for hilar cholangiocarcinoma, and portal vein resection may improve the prognosis in selected patients. However, hepatic artery resection can not improve survival and may even lead to an increase of perioperative morbidity and mortality.
Zhou
Li-Xin
LX
Department of Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital ,Hangzhou 310022, China. zhoulx8k158@yahoo.com.cn
Xu
Zhi-Yuan
ZY
Guo
Jian-Min
JM
Zhang
Ze-Wei
ZW
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001650:Bile Duct Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D001653:Bile Ducts, Intrahepatic; D018281:Cholangiocarcinoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006499:Hepatic Artery / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D011169:Portal Vein / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000401:mortality; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D014656:Vascular Surgical Procedures / Q000401:mortality