Liver resection associated with mini porto-caval shunt as salvage treatment in patients with progression of hepatocellular carcinoma before liver transplantation: a case report.
Tumor progression before orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is the main cause of dropouts from waiting lists among patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Performing a porto-caval shunt (PCS) before parenchymal liver transection has the potential to allow an extended hepatectomy in patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis, reducing portal hyperflow and therefore the sinusoidal shear-stress on the remnant liver. We report the case of a 59-year-old man affected by hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related decompensated liver cirrhosis (Child Pugh score presentation, C-10; Model for End Stage Liver Disease score, 18) and HCC (2 lesions of 2 and 2.8 cm). The patient began the evaluation to join the OLT waiting list, but, in the 3 months required to complete the evaluation, he developed tumor progression: 3 HCC lesions, the largest 1 with a diameter of about 4.4 cm. These findings excluded transplantation criteria and the patient was referred to our center. After appropriate preoperative studies, the patient underwent a major liver resection (trisegmentectomy) after side-to-side PCS by interposition of an iliac vein graft from a cadaveric donor. The patient overcame the worsened severity of cirrhosis. After 6 months of follow-up, he developed 2 other HCC nodules. He was then included on the waiting list at our center, undergoing OLT from a cadaveric donor at 8 months after salvage treatment. At 36 months after OLT, he is alive and free from HCC recurrence. Associating a partial side-to-side PCS with hepatic resection may represent a potential salvage therapy for patients with decompensated cirrhosis and HCC progression beyond listing criteria for OLT.
Unità di Chirurgia Epatobiliare e Trapianto Epatico, Dipartimento assistenziale di Chirurgia Generale e Trapianti d'Organo, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy. marina.polacco@unipd.it
M
M
Polacco
A
A
Vitale
M
M
Valmasoni
F
F
D'Amico
E
E
Gringeri
A
A
Brolese
G
G
Zanus
D
D
Neri
A
A
Carraro
A
A
Pauletto
E
E
Romanelli
S
S
Lo Bello
U
U
Cillo
D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000150:complications; D017541:Aneurysm, False / Q000628:therapy; D000903:Antibiotics, Antineoplastic / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000601:surgery*; D004621:Embolization, Therapeutic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006876:Hydrothorax / Q000601:surgery; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019168:Portasystemic Shunt, Transjugular Intrahepatic / Q000379:methods*; D020123:Sirolimus / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014648:Varicose Veins / Q000628:therapy
D000903:Antibiotics, Antineoplastic; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D020123:Sirolimus