Short-term outcomes after major hepatic resection in patients with cirrhosis: a 75-case unicentric western experience

Nomogram based on liver stiffness and spleen area with ultrasound for posthepatectomy liver failure: A multicenter study

BACKGROUND

Liver stiffness (LS) measurement with two-dimensional shear wave elastography (2D-SWE) correlates with the degree of liver fibrosis and thus indirectly reflects liver function reserve. The size of the spleen increases due to tissue proliferation, fibrosis, and portal vein congestion, which can indirectly reflect the situation of liver fibrosis/cirrhosis. It was reported that the size of the spleen was related to posthepatectomy liver failure (PHLF). So far, there has been no study combining 2D-SWE measurements of LS with spleen size to predict PHLF. This prospective study aimed to investigate the utility of 2D-SWE assessing LS and spleen area (SPA) for the prediction of PHLF in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients and to develop a risk prediction model.

AIM

To investigate the utility of 2D-SWE assessing LS and SPA for the prediction of PHLF in HCC patients and to develop a risk prediction model.

METHODS

This was a multicenter observational study prospectively analyzing patients who underwent hepatectomy from October 2020 to March 2022. Within 1 wk before partial hepatectomy, ultrasound examination was performed to measure LS and SPA, and blood was drawn to evaluate the patient's liver function and other conditions. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator logistic regression and multivariate logistic regression analysis was applied to identify independent predictors of PHLF and develop a nomogram. Nomogram performance was validated further. The diagnostic performance of the nomogram was evaluated with receiver operating characteristic curve compared with the conventional models, including the model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score and the albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) score.

RESULTS

A total of 562 HCC patients undergoing hepatectomy (500 in the training cohort and 62 in the validation cohort) were enrolled in this study. The independent predictors of PHLF were LS, SPA, range of resection, blood loss, international normalized ratio, and total bilirubin. Better diagnostic performance of the nomogram was obtained in the training [area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC): 0.833; 95% confidence interval (95%CI): 0.792-0.873; sensitivity: 83.1%; specificity: 73.5%] and validation (AUC: 0.802; 95%CI: 0.684-0.920; sensitivity: 95.5%; specificity: 52.5%) cohorts compared with the MELD score and the ALBI score.

CONCLUSION

This PHLF nomogram, mainly based on LS by 2D-SWE and SPA, was useful in predicting PHLF in HCC patients and presented better than MELD score and ALBI score.

The Comparison of Surgical Margins and Type of Hepatic Resection for Hepatocellular Carcinoma With Microvascular Invasion

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of surgical margin and hepatic resection on prognosis and compare their importance on prognosis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

METHODS

The clinical data of 906 patients with HCC who underwent hepatic resection in our hospital from January 2013 to January 2015 were collected retrospectively. All patients were divided into anatomical resection (AR) (n = 234) and nonanatomical resection (NAR) group (n = 672) according to type of hepatic resection. The effects of AR and NAR and wide and narrow margins on overall survival (OS) and time to recurrence (TTR) were analyzed.

RESULTS

In all patients, narrow margin (1.560, 1.278-1.904; 1.387, 1.174-1.639) is an independent risk factor for OS and TTR, and NAR is not. Subgroup analysis showed that narrow margins (2.307, 1.699-3.132; 1.884, 1.439-2.468), and NAR (1.481, 1.047-2.095; 1.372, 1.012-1.860) are independent risk factors for OS and TTR in patients with microvascular invasion (MVI)-positive. Further analysis showed that for patients with MVI-positive HCC, NAR with wide margins was a protective factor for OS and TTR compared to AR with narrow margins (0.618, 0.396-0.965; 0.662, 0.448-0.978). The 1, 3, and 5 years OS and TTR rate of the two group were 81%, 49%, 29% versus 89%, 64%, 49% (P = .008) and 42%, 79%, 89% versus 32%, 58%, 74% (P = .024), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

For patients with MVI-positive HCC, AR and wide margins were protective factors for prognosis. However, wide margins are more important than AR on prognosis. In the clinical setting, if the wide margins and AR cannot be ensured at the same time, the wide margins should be ensured first.

Impact of hospital volume in liver surgery on postoperative mortality and morbidity: nationwide study

BACKGROUND

This nationwide retrospective study was undertaken to evaluate impact of hospital volume and influence of liver transplantation activity on postoperative mortality and failure to rescue after liver surgery.

METHODS

This was a retrospective study of patients who underwent liver resection between 2011 and 2019 using a nationwide database. A threshold of surgical activities from which in-hospital mortality declines was calculated. Hospitals were divided into high- and low-volume centres. Main outcomes were in-hospital mortality and failure to rescue.

RESULTS

Among 39 286 patients included, the in-hospital mortality rate was 2.8 per cent. The activity volume threshold from which in-hospital mortality declined was 25 hepatectomies. High-volume centres (more than 25 resections per year) had more postoperative complications but a lower rate of in-hospital mortality (2.6 versus 3 per cent; P < 0.001) and failure to rescue (5 versus 6.3 per cent; P < 0.001), in particular related to specific complications (liver failure, biliary complications, vascular complications) (5.5 versus 7.6 per cent; P < 0.001). Liver transplantation activity did not have an impact on these outcomes.

CONCLUSION

From more than 25 liver resections per year, rates of in-hospital mortality and failure to rescue declined. Management of specific postoperative complications appeared to be better in high-volume centres.

Predictors of mortality within the first year post-hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Hepatic resection (HR) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is safe with good perioperative and long-term oncologic outcomes. There is a paucity of data with regards to intermediate-term outcomes (i.e., beyond 90-day and within 1-year mortality). This paper studies the risk factors for within 1-year mortality after elective HR with curative intent in patients with HCC.

METHODS

An audit of patients who underwent curative HR for HCC from January 2007 to April 2016 was conducted. Univariate and multivariate analysis were sequentially performed on perioperative variables using Cox-regression analysis to identify factors predicting intermediate-term outcomes defined as within 1-year mortality. Kaplan-Meier survival curves and hazard ratios were obtained.

RESULTS

Three hundred forty-eight patients underwent HR during the study period and 163 patients had curative hepatectomy for HCC. Fifteen patients (9.2%) died within 1-year after HR. Multivariate analysis identified Child-Pugh class B/C (HR 5.5, p = 0.035), multinodularity (HR 7.1, p = 0.001), macrovascular invasion (HR 4.2, p = 0.04) postoperative acute renal failure (HR 5.8, p = 0.049) and posthepatic liver failure (HR 9.6, p = 0.009) as significant predictors of 1-year mortality.

CONCLUSION

One-year mortality following HR for HCC remains high and can be predicted preoperatively by multinodularity, Child-Pugh class, and macrovascular invasion. Postoperative acute renal failure and liver failure are associated with 1-year mortality.

A Novel Nomogram for Predicting Postoperative Liver Failure After Major Hepatectomy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Background

Post-hepatectomy liver failure (PHLF) is the most common cause of mortality after major hepatectomy in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. We aim to develop a nomogram to preoperatively predict grade B/C PHLF defined by the International Study Group on Liver Surgery Grading (ISGLS) in HCC patients undergoing major hepatectomy.

Study Design

The consecutive HCC patients who underwent major hepatectomy at the Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital between 2008 and 2013 served as a training cohort to develop a preoperative nomogram, and patients from 2 other hospitals comprised an external validation cohort. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) logistic regression was applied to identify preoperative predictors of grade B/C PHLF. Multivariable logistic regression was utilized to establish a nomogram model. Internal and external validations were used to verify the performance of the nomogram. The accuracy of the nomogram was also compared with the conventional scoring models, including MELD and ALBI score.

Results

A total of 880 patients who underwent major hepatectomy (668 in the training cohort and 192 in the validation cohort) were enrolled in this study. The independent risk factors of grade B/C PHLF were age, gender, prothrombin time, total bilirubin, and CSPH, which were incorporated into the nomogram. Good prediction discrimination was achieved in the training (AUROC: 0.73) and validation (AUROC: 0.72) cohorts. The calibration curve also showed good agreement in both training and validation cohorts. The nomogram has a better performance than MELD and ALBI score models.

Conclusion

The proposed nomogram showed more accurate ability to individually predict grade B/C PHLF after major hepatectomy in HCC patients than MELD and ALBI scores.

Liver resection safety in a developing country: Analysis of a collective learning curve

AIM OF THE STUDY

To analyze the collective learning curve in the performance of safe liver resections, using the decrease of severe postoperative complications (SPC) as a proxy for overall safety competency.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

This was a retrospective analysis of a prospective database in the setting of a liver surgery program implementation in a tertiary center in Morocco. The 100 first consecutive cases of elective liver resections starting from January 1st, 2018 were included in the analysis. SPC were defined as CD>IIIa during the first 90 postoperative days. We used a cumulative sum (CUSUM) technique to determine the number of cases required to achieve safety competency. We then compared case characteristics before and after the learning curve completion.

RESULTS

SPC occurred in 15 cases (15%), including 5 deaths (5%). The CUSUM chart revealed a learning curve completion at the 49th case, marked by an inflection point towards the decrease in SPC (24.5% vs 5.9%; P=0.009). In period 2 (after), cases were associated with less diabetes, less synchronous digestive resection, more cirrhosis, and more prolonged preoperative chemotherapy. The rates of major resection (30.6% vs 29.9%; P=0.89) and biliary reconstruction were comparable, as were the operating time, and estimated blood loss.

CONCLUSION

Approximately 50 cases were required to complete the learning curve and improve the overall safety of liver resection. In our setting, the learning curve chronology was consistent with collective measures, including team stabilization and protocol development.

Development and validation of a risk score to predict the overall survival following surgical resection of hepatocellular carcinoma in non-cirrhotic liver

BACKGROUND

The aim of this study was to develop and validate a risk score to predict overall survival (OS) in patients undergoing surgical resection for hepatocellular carcinoma in non-cirrhotic liver (NC-HCC).

METHODS

Patients who underwent resection for NC-HCC between 2004 and 2013 were identified from the SEER database. A derivation set of 75% of this cohort was used to develop a risk score. This was then internally validated on the remaining patients, and externally validated using a cohort of patients from The HPB Unit, Birmingham, UK.

RESULTS

A total of 3897 patients were included from the SEER database, with a median post-diagnosis survival of 59 months. In the derivation set, multivariable analyses identified male sex, increasing tumour size, the presence of multiple tumours, bilobar tumours and major vascular invasion as adverse prognostic factors. A risk score generated from these factors was significantly predictive of OS, and was used to classify patients into low, medium and high-risk groups. These groups had a five-year OS of 69%, 51% and 19% in the internal, and 73%, 50% and 45% in the external validation sets.

CONCLUSION

The proposed risk score is useful in the selection, pre-operative consenting and counselling of patients for surgery and to allow patients to make an informed decision regarding treatment.