title: Surgical impacts of an en bloc resection of the diaphragm for hepatocellular carcinoma with gross diaphragmatic involvement.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Diaphragmatic involvement is relatively uncommon in patients undergoing a hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The aim of this study was to evaluate the short- and long-term surgical impacts of HCC with gross diaphragmatic involvement in patients undergoing an en bloc resection of the diaphragm.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between 1990 and 2007, 911 patients with HCC underwent a hepatectomy at our institution. Twenty-seven patients (3.0%) had had gross involvement of the diaphragm. Thirteen patients (1.4%) had undergone an en bloc resection of the diaphragm, and 14 (1.5%) had received only a blunt dissection. The short-term surgical impacts (surgical morbidity and mortality) and long-term surgical impacts (overall and disease-free survival) were compared between the groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In patients with an en bloc resection of the diaphragm as compared with those who received a blunt dissection, the values of total bilirubin and the indocyanine green retention rate at 15 min were significantly better (P < 0.01 and P = 0.04, respectively), and the rate of positivity for the hepatitis B antigen was significantly higher (P = 0.02). The positive rates of microscopic fibrocapsular invasion (P = 0.03), microscopic vascular invasion (P = 0.04), and Ki-67 immunostaining (P = 0.04) were significantly higher in patients with an en bloc resection of the diaphragm. There were no significant differences in the short-term and long-term surgical impacts between the groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An en bloc resection of the diaphragm in patients with gross diaphragmatic involvement of HCC is therefore justified, since there are no significant differences in short- or long-term surgical impacts in comparison with the patients receiving blunt dissection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Yo-ichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamashita
authors.forename: Kazutoyo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Morita
authors.forename: Tomohiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Iguchi
authors.forename: Eiji
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tsujita
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Soejima
authors.forename: Akinobu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Taketomi
authors.forename: Yoshihiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Maehara
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003964:Diaphragm / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006498:Hepatectomy; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome