Impact of simultaneous diaphragm resection during hepatectomy for treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer

The impact of multivisceral liver resection on short- and long-term outcomes of patients with colorectal liver metastasis: A systematic review and meta-analysis

The impact of Multivisceral Liver Resection (MLR) on the outcome of patients with Colorectal Liver Metastasis (CRLM) is unclear. The present systematic review aimed to compare patients with CRLM who underwent MLR versus standard hepatectomy regarding short- and long-term outcomes. MLR is a feasible procedure but has a higher risk of major complications. MLR did not negatively affect long-term survival, suggesting that an extended resection is an option for potentially curative treatment for selected patients with CRLM.

Laparoscopic liver resection with simultaneous diaphragm resection

Background

Liver resection or ablation remains the only curative treatment for patients with colorectal metastases. Simultaneous resection of tumors in the liver with invasion to the diaphragm is challenging and controversial. Therefore, we wanted to assess the safety of simultaneous laparoscopic liver and diaphragm resection (SLLDR) in a large single center.

Methods

Patients who underwent primary laparoscopic liver resection (LLR) for colorectal liver metastases at Oslo University Hospital between 2008 and 2019 were included in this study. Patients who underwent SLLDR (group 1) were compared to patients who underwent LLR only (group 2). Perioperative and oncologic outcomes were analyzed.

Results

A total of 467 patients were identified, of whom 12 patients needed a simultaneous diaphragm resection (group 1) while 455 underwent laparoscopic liver surgery alone (group 2). The conversion rate was 16.7% in group 1 and 2.4% in group 2 (P=0.040). In 10 of 12 (83.3%) cases the diaphragm resection was performed en bloc with the liver tumor. There was no significant difference in operative time, blood loss, resection margins, hospital stay or postoperative complications. One patient died within 30 postoperative days (0.2%) in group 2 and none in group 1. Overall survival was not statistically different between the groups.

Conclusions

In selected patients, SLLDR can be performed safely with good surgical and oncological outcomes.

Surgical outcome of extended liver resections for colorectal liver metastasis compared with standard liver resections

Colorectal liver metastatic lesions sometimes invade adjacent organs. A hepatectomy is often extended to include the involved adjacent organ to achieve negative surgical margins. The purpose of the present retrospective study was to evaluate the surgical outcomes of extended liver resections and patients' prognoses. The medical records of 178 patients with colorectal liver metastasis who underwent liver resections in the Department of Gastroenterological Surgery at Osaka University Hospital (Suita, Japan), from 2000 to 2015 were reviewed. These patients were divided into two groups: the extended resection group (n=20) and the non-extended resection group (n=158). The disease-free and overall survival curves were estimated with the Kaplan-Meier method and analyzed with the log rank test. It was observed that the extended resection group had longer operation times and increased blood loss, however perioperative morbidity was similar. The organs resected most frequently were the diaphragm (n=10) and inferior vena cava (n=5). Overall survival rates in the extended resection group were lower compared with the non-extended resection group (5-year survival rates; 45.0 vs. 67.9%), however the difference was not significant. It was indicated that the aggressive hepatectomy combined with resection of adjacent organs was an acceptable treatment with low perioperative morbidity. The overall survival rate may not be inferior to that of simple hepatectomy.

Multivisceral Resection for Locally Invasive Colorectal Liver Metastases: Outcomes of a Matched Cohort Analysis

Local invasion of adjacent viscera by colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) is no longer considered an absolute contraindication to curative hepatic resection. A growing number of observational analyses have illustrated the feasibility of such resections; however, the evidence base is at best heterogeneous with a lack of evidence comparing similar patient groups. We aimed to evaluate the outcomes of hepatectomy for CRLM when combined with other viscera and compare to a matched cohort of isolated hepatic resections.

METHODS

From 2005 to 2015, 523 patients underwent hepatic resection for CRLM at our institution, 19 of whom underwent hepatectomy with extrahepatic resection. A 3: 1 matched cohort analysis was performed between those who underwent isolated hepatectomy (control group) and those who underwent hepatectomy with extrahepatic resection (combined group). Clinicopathological data were reviewed along with 30-day postoperative morbidity and mortality. Furthermore, overall survival for the multivisceral cohort was compared to all other isolated hepatectomies over the same time period.

RESULTS

Nineteen patients underwent liver resection accompanied by either/or diaphragmatic resection (n = 13), major vein resection and reconstruction (n = 5), and visceral resection (n = 3). Maximum tumor size was significantly larger in the combined group (60.58 vs. 15.34 mm p < 0.0001). Postoperative morbidity was similar in both groups (p = 0.41). Following multivisceral resection, 1-, 3- and 5-year survival rates were 75, 56.6, and 25.7% respectively. Overall survival showed no significant difference between combined and control groups (p = 0.78). Similarly, when compared to the total cohort of isolated liver resections (n = 504), no significant difference in overall mortality was noted.

CONCLUSION

In patients presenting with concomitant CRLM and extrahepatic extension where R0 margins can be achieved, this present study supports the rationale to proceed to -surgery with comparable morbidity and mortality rates to -isolated hepatectomy.

Pathological diaphragmatic invasion by colorectal liver metastases is associated with RAS mutation, peritoneal recurrence and worse survival

BACKGROUND

Risk factors for pathological diaphragmatic invasion from colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) and differences in recurrence patterns and survival between patients with true pathological diaphragmatic invasion versus inflammatory adhesions only remain poorly understood. This study aimed at identifying risk factors for and survival impact of pathological diaphragmatic invasion in patients with CRLM.

METHODS

Patients with CRLM who underwent hepatectomy with or without diaphragmatic resection from 1998 to 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. Recurrence-free survival (RFS), overall survival (OS), and recurrence patterns were examined according to the presence or absence of pathological invasion.

RESULTS

Of 1860 patients, 70 underwent hepatectomy with diaphragmatic resection and 1799 had hepatectomy only. Among the patients with gross diaphragmatic involvement, 15 (21%) had pathological invasion, and 55 (79%) had inflammatory adhesion only. Multiple tumors (p = 0.019) and RAS mutation (p = 0.047) were significantly associated with pathological invasion. Pathological invasion was associated with a higher incidence of peritoneal recurrence (33% vs. 11%, p = 0.041), worse median RFS (6 months vs. 11 months, p = 0.21) and OS (26 months vs. 51 months, p = 0.046) compared to inflammatory adhesion.

CONCLUSION

Multiple tumors and RAS mutant were predictors for pathological diaphragmatic invasion, which was associated with a higher incidence of peritoneal recurrence and worse OS.

Surgical anatomy of the posterior liver surface: the retrohepatic lamina as the basis for mobilisation of the right liver

BACKGROUND

During right hepatectomies, dissection of the bare area is performed to obtain mobilisation of the liver. Fifty computed tomography scans of the upper abdomen of patients were examined. Specimens of supramesocolic compartment were sampled from 10 un-embalmed cadavers. Macrosections were cut for histotopographic study. In four cadavers, in situ dissection of the posterior liver surface was performed.

RESULTS

The hepatophrenic tissue showed a stratigraphic organisation resulting from the juxtaposition of thin layer of dense connective tissue corresponding to the inferior diaphragmatic fascia (mean thickness is 30 ± 4 μm); variable amount of fibroadipose tissue corresponding to retroperitoneal fibroadipose tissue (mean thickness is 34 ± 8 μm); two connective layers with nets of flat cells forming a fusion fascia, the retrohepatic lamina (mean thickness 24 ± 6 μm); and layer of connective tissue corresponding to the hepatic capsule. The juxta-caval portion of the retrohepatic lamina, connecting the right and left sides of the caval groove, forms the inferior vena cava ligament. During dissection, fluid injection developed a preferential plane between the two layers of the retrohepatic lamina, close to the hepatic surface, and no major or minor vessels were ever found along this plane.

CONCLUSION

During right hepatectomy, to reduce the risk of dissemination of tumour cells, the dissection plane should be performed between the two layers of the retrohepatic lamina.