Liver resection and transplantation in Caroli disease and syndrome

Heritable Chronic Cholestatic Liver Diseases: A Review

Chronic cholestasis due to heritable causes is usually diagnosed in childhood. However, many cases can present and survive into adulthood. The time course varies considerably depending on the underlying etiology. Laboratory data usually reveal elevated conjugated hyperbilirubinemia, alkaline phosphatase, and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase. Patients may be asymptomatic; however, when present, the typical symptoms are pruritus, jaundice, fatigue, and alcoholic stools. The diagnostic methods and management required depend on the underlying etiology. The development of genome-wide associated studies has allowed the identification of specific genetic mutations related to the pathophysiology of cholestatic liver diseases. The aim of this review was to highlight the genetics, clinical pathophysiology, presentation, diagnosis, and treatment of heritable etiologies of chronic cholestatic liver disease.

Liver Transplantation for Diffuse Form of Caroli Disease with Chronic Hepatitis B: A Case Report

Caroli disease (CD) is a congenital disease of the intrahepatic biliary system, which manifests as cystic dilatation of the intrahepatic bile ducts. The disease has a low incidence and atypical clinical manifestations; therefore, it can be easily misdiagnosed. Hepatitis B infection is a viral infection that affects liver cells, leading to degeneration, necrosis, and regeneration of the cells and formation of false lobules, and ultimately nodular cirrhosis, which can lead to liver dysfunction and liver failure. Herein, we report a case of decompensated liver cirrhosis because of a diffuse form of CD, which was misdiagnosed because of long-term hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Finally, orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) was performed, and the patient was cured. We believe that this congenital factor combined with HBV infection accelerated cirrhosis progression in this patient. This transplant was carried out in accordance with the Helsinki Congress and the Declaration of Istanbul.

Caroli syndrome associated with atrial septal defect and polydactyly: a case report

INTRODUCTION

Caroli disease is multifocal segmental dilatation of the large intrahepatic bile ducts that connect to the main duct. It is considered a rare disease with an incidence rate of 1 in 1,000,000 births. There are two types of Caroli: the first type is the simple type, Caroli disease, which includes only cystic dilatation of the intrahepatic bile ducts. The second is called Caroli syndrome, which consists of Caroli disease and congenital hepatic fibrosis and might lead to portal hypertension leading to esophageal varices and splenomegaly. Atrial septal defect is one of the most common congenital heart diseases, occurring when the connection between the left and the right atriums fails to close. Polydactyly is one of the most common congenital malformations of the hands and feet. It manifests in excess fingers on the hands or toes.

CASE PRESENTATION

A 6-year-old Arab girl presented to the hospital with abdominal pain for the last month with abdominal enlargement. The patient was already diagnosed with Caroli disease and polydactyly (six fingers on each limb) when she was born. Investigations including complete blood count, blood smear, bone marrow biopsy, esophagoscopy, abdominal ultrasound, and computed tomography scan showed splenomegaly associated with hypersplenism, fourth-grade non-bleeding varices, intrahepatic cystic formations in the left and right lobes, and an atrial septal defect with a left-to-right shunt. The patient was scheduled for a splenectomy after she was vaccinated with the appropriate vaccines. After follow-up for a week in the hospital, complete blood count showed an improvement. A month after that, the patient had liver abscesses and biliary fistula that were treated appropriately and her symptoms resolved.

CONCLUSION

The association of liver diseases, polydactyly, and congenital heart diseases is extremely rare and was only documented few times in the literature. However, to our knowledge, atrial septal defect has never been part of this combination before. The family history also makes this case unique and strongly suggests genetic etiology.

Fibrocystic liver disease: novel concepts and translational perspectives

Fibrocystic liver diseases (FLDs) comprise a heterogeneous group of rare diseases of the biliary tree, having in common an abnormal development of the embryonic ductal plate caused by genetically-determined dysfunctions of proteins expressed in the primary cilia of cholangiocytes (and therefore grouped among the "ciliopathies"). The ductal dysgenesis may affect the biliary system at multiple levels, from the small intrahepatic bile ducts [congenital hepatic fibrosis (CHF)], to the larger intrahepatic bile ducts [Caroli disease (CD), or Caroli syndrome (CS), when CD coexists with CHF], leading to biliary microhamartomas and segmental bile duct dilations. Biliary changes are accompanied by progressive deposition of abundant peribiliary fibrosis. Peribiliary fibrosis and biliary cysts are the fundamental lesions of FLDs and are responsible for the main clinical manifestations, such as portal hypertension, recurrent cholangitis, cholestasis, sepsis and eventually cholangiocarcinoma. Furthermore, FLDs often associate with a spectrum of disorders affecting primarily the kidney. Among them, the autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD) is the most frequent, and the renal function impairment is central in disease progression. CHF, CD/CS, and ARPKD are caused by a number of mutations in polycystic kidney hepatic disease 1 (PKHD1), a gene that encodes for fibrocystin/polyductin, a protein of unclear function, but supposedly involved in planar cell polarity and other fundamental cell functions. Targeted medical therapy is not available yet and thus the current treatment aims at controlling the complications. Interventional radiology or surgical treatments, including liver transplantation, are used in selected cases.

Risk of malignancy in Caroli disease and syndrome: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Congenital intrahepatic bile duct dilatation without fibrosis is called Caroli disease (CD), and is called Caroli syndrome (CS) when it has fibrotic and cirrhotic liver morphology. The development of intrahepatic carcinoma is described in both conditions, but the reported incidence varies extensively. Potential risk factors for the malignant transformation were not described. Furthermore, conservative or surgical treatment is performed depending on the extent of cystic malformation, hepatic dysfunction and structural hepatic changes, but little is known about which treatment should be offered to patients with CD or CS and cancer.

AIM

To further investigate the malignant transformation in these conditions.

METHODS

A systematic review of the current literature until January 2019 was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement. A search using Medline (PubMed) was performed using a combination of Medical Subject Headings terms “caroli disease”, “caroli syndrome”, “tumor”, “malignant”, and “cholangiocarcinoma”. Only human studies published in English were used for this systematic review. The following parameters were extracted from each article: year of publication, type of study, number of patients, incidence of malignant tumor, duration of symptoms, age, sex, diagnostics, identification of tumor, surgical therapy, survival and tumor recurrence.

RESULTS

Twelve retrospective studies reporting the courses of 561 patients (53% females) were included in this systematic review. With a mean age of 41.6 years old (range 23 to 56 years old), patients were younger than other populations undergoing liver surgery. Depending on the size of the study population the incidence of cholangiocarcinoma varied from 2.7% to 37.5% with an overall incidence of 6.6%. There were only few detailed reports about preoperative diagnostic work-up, but a multimodal work-up including ultrasound of the liver, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography was used in most studies. Disease duration was variable with up to several years. Most patients had episodes of cholangitis, sepsis, fever or abdominal pain. Tumor detection was an incidental finding of the surgical specimen in most cases because it is currently often impossible to detect tumor manifestation during preoperative diagnostics. Liver resection or liver transplantation was performed depending on the extent of the biliary pathology and additional alterations of the liver structure or function. No postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy was reported, but chemotherapy was administered in selected cases of tumor recurrence. Overall survival rates after one year were low at 36% and a high recurrence rate of up to 75% during the observation period.

CONCLUSION

Only few retrospective studies reported a low tumor incidence. Despite the high rate of mortality and tumor recurrence, definite surgical treatment should be offered as soon as possible.

Remodeling of Intrahepatic Ducts in a Model of Caroli Syndrome: Is Scar Carcinoma a Consequence of Laplace's Law?

Caroli syndrome, characterized by saccular dilatation of intrahepatic ducts and congenital hepatic fibrosis, is without therapy in part due to its ultra-rare prevalence and the apparent lack of availability of a suitable experimental model. While the PCK rat has long been used as a model of fibropolycystic kidney disease, hepatobiliary biophysics in this animal model is incompletely characterized. Compared to age-matched, wild-type controls, the PCK rat demonstrated severe hepatomegaly and large saccular dilated intrahepatic ducts. Nevertheless, hepatic density was greater in the PCK rat, likely due to severe duct wall sclerosis accompanied by scarring across the hepatic parenchyma. Extracellular matrix accumulation appeared proportional to duct cross-sectional area and liver volume and appeared compensatory in nature. The PCK rat livers exhibited both cholangiocarcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma coincident with areas of increased extracellular matrix deposition. Together, these data suggest that the PCK rat model mimics at least in part the spectrum of hepatobiliary pathology observed in Caroli syndrome and highlights the attendant risk associated with this disease.

Caroli Syndrome in a 6-Year-Old Rottweiler Dog

A 6-year-old entire female rottweiler dog with a recent history of ascites and respiratory disease was submitted for necropsy examination. The dog had been diagnosed ultrasonographically with biliary cysts as a puppy. Grossly, the liver was smaller than expected with an irregular surface. Islands of hepatocytes were separated by bands of fibrosis and many bile ducts were markedly dilated. Histologically, extensive fibrosis extended beyond the limiting plate and into the surrounding hepatic parenchyma and was associated with abundant small bile ducts throughout. In conjunction with the detection of biliary cysts early in life, the gross and histological findings were consistent with a diagnosis of Caroli syndrome. In man, Caroli syndrome is frequently associated with renal and pancreatic cysts; a single renal cyst was identified in this case.