Perihilar cholangiocarcinoma in an explanted liver after Kasai operation for biliary atresia: A case report and literature review

Small Intestinal Adenocarcinoma Arising at the Anastomotic Site after Kasai Operation for Biliary Atresia: A Case Report and Literature Review

Biliary atresia is an obliterative cholangiopathy of unknown etiology. Hepatic portoenterostomy, in which obliterated extrahepatic bile ducts are resected and bile flow is restored, known as Kasai operation, is performed within 3 months after birth. While this operation enhances long-term survival of patients, the occurrence of primary malignant hepatic tumors has been increasing. We report a case of small intestinal adenocarcinoma arising at the anastomotic site after Kasai operation. A 49-year-old man, who underwent Kasai operation for biliary atresia when he was 2 months old, experienced rapidly progressive jaundice and liver dysfunction. Deceased-donor liver transplantation was performed for liver failure. Macroscopically, there was a white-yellow tumor located at the anastomotic site of hepatic portoenterostomy of the resected liver. Pathological examination revealed a well-differentiated adenocarcinoma with some Paneth cells in the neoplastic lesion. Immunohistochemically, the tumor cells were negative for cytokeratin 7 (CK7) but positive for cytokeratin 20 (CK20) and a homeobox domain-containing transcription factor (CDX2). Mucin expression in tumor cells was negative for mucin 1 (MUC1) and mucin 6 (MUC6) and positive for mucin 2 (MUC2) and mucin 5AC (MUC5AC). The pathological diagnosis was small intestinal adenocarcinoma originating from the jejunum. The patient was discharged 48 days after the operation. The patient had not experienced recurrence at 10 months after the operation. This is the first report of small intestinal adenocarcinoma arising at the anastomotic site after Kasai operation for biliary atresia. Special care should be taken for the patients after Kasai operation with acute progressive jaundice and liver dysfunction because there is a possibility of malignancy in their native liver.

The Outcome of Patients With Cystic Biliary Atresia With Intact Proximal Hepatic Ducts Following Hepatic-Cyst-Jejunostomy

OBJECTIVES

To determine the outcomes of patients with cystic biliary atresia by correlating the anatomy of the hepatic ducts with the choice of biliary reconstruction surgery.

BACKGROUND

The Kasai hepatoportoenterostomy (Kasai) is the initial surgical procedure offered to most patients with biliary atresia. In contrast, a hepatic-cyst-jejunostomy has been reported to be effective in patients with the cystic form of biliary atresia.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We performed an international multicenter retrospective review. Two hundred eighty-seven patients were included, and 33 cases of cystic biliary atresia were identified. Outcomes were the serum total bilirubin level 3 months post-surgery and native liver survival at 2 years of age and were compared between cases who received the Kasai versus hepatic-cyst-jejunostomy in correlation to the anatomy of proximal hepatic ducts. The patients were categorized into 3 anatomical groups: patent intact hepatic ducts (n = 10), patent hypoplastic hepatic ducts (n = 13), and obliterated hepatic ducts (n = 10). All 10 patients with patent intact hepatic duct group underwent hepatic-cyst-jejunostomy, and 9 experienced bile drainage and native liver survival. Among the 13 patients with hypoplastic hepatic ducts, 11 underwent the Kasai procedure, and 9 had bile drainage, whereas 2 underwent hepatic-cyst-jejunostomy, and one survived with the native liver. All of the patients with obliterated hepatic ducts underwent the Kasai procedure; 5 established biliary drainage and survived with the native liver. Of 5 who did not drain, 3 underwent liver transplantation.

CONCLUSIONS

In patients with cystic biliary atresia, the subset with a connection between cyst and intrahepatic bile ducts via intact proximal hepatic ducts had favorable clinical outcomes following hepatic-cyst-jejunostomy.