Perihilar cholangiocarcinoma: A difficult surgery in a difficult patient where experience matters most

Robotic ALPPS for primary and metastatic liver tumours: short-term outcomes versus open approach

Associating Liver Partition and Portal vein ligation for Staged hepatectomy (ALPPS) is one of the strategies available for patients initially unresectable. High risk of peri-operative morbidity and mortality limited its application and diffusion. We aimed to analyse short-term outcomes of robotic ALPPS versus open approach, to assess safety and reproducibility of this technique. A retrospective analysis of prospectively maintained databases at University of Modena and Reggio Emilia on patients that underwent ALPPS between January 2015 and September 2022 was conducted. The main aim of the study was to evaluate safety and feasibility of robotic approach, either full robotic or only first-stage robotic, compared to a control group of patients who underwent open ALPPS in the same Institution. 23 patients were included. Nine patients received a full open ALPPS (O-ALPPS), 7 received a full robotic ALPPS (R-ALPPS), and 7 underwent a robotic approach for stage 1, followed by an open approach for stage 2 (R + O-ALPPS). PHLF grade B-C after stage 1 was 0% in all groups, rising to 58% in the R + O-ALPPS group after stage 2 and remaining 0% in the R-ALPPS group. 86% of R-ALPPS cases were discharged from the hospital between stages 1 and 2, and median total in-hospital stay and ICU stay favoured full robotic approach as well. This contemporary study represents the largest series of robotic ALPPS, showing potential advantages from full robotic ALPPS over open approach, resulting in reduced hospital stay and complications and lower incidence of 90-day mortality.

Impact of perioperative blood transfusion on long-term survival in patients with different stages of perihilar cholangiocarcinoma treated with curative resection: A multicentre propensity score matching study

Background & aim

The association of perioperative blood transfusion (PBT) with long-term survival in perihilar cholangiocarcinoma (pCCA) patients after surgical resection with curative intent is controversial and may differ among different stages of the disease. This study aimed to investigate the impact of PBT on long-term survival of patients with different stages of pCCA.

Methods

Consecutive pCCA patients from three hospitals treated with curative resection from 2012 to 2019 were enrolled and divided into the PBT and non-PBT groups. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to balance differences in baseline characteristics between the PBT and non-PBT groups. Kaplan–Meier curves and log-rank test were used to compare overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) between patients with all tumor stages, early stage (8th AJCC stage I), and non-early stage (8th AJCC stage II-IV) pCCA in the PBT and non-PBT groups. Cox regression analysis was used to determine the impact of PBT on OS and RFS of these patients.

Results

302 pCCA patients treated with curative resection were enrolled into this study. Before PSM, 68 patients (22 patients in the PBT group) were in the early stage and 234 patients (108 patients in the PBT group) were in the non-early stage. Patients with early stage pCCA in the PBT group had significantly lower OS and RFS rates than those in the non-PBT group. However, there were with no significant differences between the 2 groups with all tumor stages and non-early stage pCCA. After PSM, there were 18 matched pairs of patients with early stage and 72 matched pairs of patients with non-early stage. Similar results were obtained in the pre- and post-PSM cohorts: patients with early stage pCCA in the PBT group showed significantly lower OS and RFS rates than those in the non-PBT group, but there were no significant differences between the 2 groups for patients with all tumor stages and non-early stage pCCA. Cox regression analysis demonstrated that PBT was independently associated with worse OS and RFS for patients with early stage pCCA.

Conclusions

PBT had a negative impact on long-term survival in patients with early stage pCCA after curative resection, but not in patients with non-early stage pCCA.

Robotic liver partition and portal vein embolization for staged hepatectomy for perihilar cholangiocarcinoma

Perihilar cholangiocarcinoma (pCCA) is one of the most complex challenges for hepatobiliary surgeons. Poor results and high incidence of morbidity after Associating Liver Partition and Portal vein ligation for Staged hepatectomy (ALPPS) for pCCA discouraged this indication. It has been proposed that minimally invasive approach for ALPPS first stage, as well as combination of surgical liver partition and radiologic portal vein embolization (PVE), may improve outcomes reducing interstage morbidity. We report a case of right trisectionectomy with enbloc caudatectomy ALPPS scheduled for pCCA with robotic approach at stage-1, the full video is provided as supplementary material. Due to intraoperative presence of portal vein tumor infiltration during hilar dissection (no evidence in the pre-operative work-up), a radiologic right PVE was performed after stage-1 instead of portal vein ligation, followed by portal vein resection and biductal hepatico-jejunostomy at stage-2 with open approach. The patient was a 74-year-old female diagnosed with 3-cm mass-forming pCCA. The total clean liver volume was 1231 cc, with future liver remnant (FLR) volume of 25.1% (segments II and III). She was discharged in the interstage interval on postoperative day (POD) 4; CT scan on POD 12 showed that FLR increased up to 33% (369 cc) (Fig. 1). ALPPS was completed on POD 17, the postoperative course was uneventful, and the patient was discharged in good general condition on POD 19 after stage-2. Besides the already demonstrated advantages in terms of reduced interstage morbidity, robotic ALPPS represents a promising strategy to expand surgical indication in patients with pCCA. The combination of liver partition and PVE may increase the opportunities to perform radical resections in selected patients with pCCA and portal vein infiltration.