New minimally invasive approaches for cholecystectomy: Review of literature

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the most commonlyperformed abdominal intervention in Western countries. In an attempt to reduce the invasiveness of the procedure, surgeons have developed single-incision laparoscopic cholecystectomy(SILC), minilaparoscopic cholecystectomy(MLC) and natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery(NOTES). The aim of this review was to determine the role of these new minimally invasive approaches for elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy in the treatment of gallstone related disease. Current literature remains insufficient for the correct assessment of emerging techniques for laparoscopic cholecystectomy. None of these procedures has demonstrated clear benefits over conventional laparoscopic cholecystectomy. SILC cannot be currently recommended as it can be associated with an increased risk of bile duct injury and incisional hernia incidence. NOTES cholecystectomy is still experimental, although hybrid transvaginal cholecystectomy is gaining popularity in clinical practice. As it is standardized and almost identical to the standard laparoscopic technique, MLC could lead to limited benefits without exposing patients to increased postoperative complications, being therefore adoptable for routine elective cholecystectomy. Technical challenges of SILC and NOTES cholecystectomy could be addressed with the evolution of new surgical tools that need to catch up with the innovative minds of surgeons. Regardless the place of these approaches in the future, robotization may be necessary to impose them as standard treatment.

Current strategies to induce liver remnant hypertrophy before major liver resection

Hepatic resection is the gold standard for patients affected by primary or metastatic liver tumors but is hampered by the risk of post-hepatectomy liver failure.Despite recent impro-vements,liver surgery still requires excellent clinical judgement in selecting patients for surgery and,above all,efficient pre-operative strategies to provide adequate future liver remnant.The aim of this article is to review the literature on the rational,the preliminary assessment,the advantages as well as the limits of each existing technique for preparing the liver for major hepatectomy.

Lifesaving transarterial embolization using absorbable gelatin sponge particles for massive bleeding of ruptured metastatic hepatic melanoma

To the Editor:Melanoma is an aggressive malignant tumor that arises from melanocytic cells. It usually originates from the epithelial tissues of the skin, retina and anorectal canal. Melanoma is characterized by early metastases, even from thin primary tumors. The most common sites of distant metastasis are: skin, lung, brain, liver, bone and intestine. Liver involvement occurs in 14% to 20% of cases [1] , but the diagnosis is usually performed incidentally on imaging studies, since these lesions are seldom symptomatic. Rarely, metastatic hepatic melanoma can manifest as an acute condition of massive bleeding due to spontaneous rupture of one or more hepatic lesions, with disastrous outcomes for patients in most cases. In the current literature, very few cases of spontaneous rupture of metastatic hepatic melanoma have been reported, all with fatal outcomes [2–5] . Indeed, when such a condition occurs, prompt management and bleeding control strategies are essential for long-term survival of these patients.

Co-existence of hepatocellular adenoma and focal nodular hyperplasia in a young female

Focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) and hepatocellular adenoma (HA) are both benign hepatocellular lesions, presenting mainly in women of childbearing age in non-cirrhotic, non-fibrotic livers. Simultaneous occurrence of these two lesions is extremely rare. We herein report a case of a young female without any predisposing risk factors who presented to our emergency department complaining of acute abdominal pain. Imaging studies revealed a 6 cm lesion in the right hepatic lobe and a 2.5 cm lesion in the left hepatic lobe, respectively. In view of the patient’s symptoms and lack of a confirmed diagnosis based on imaging, we performed a bisegmentectomy V-VI and a wedge resection of the lesion in segment III by laparotomy. Postoperative course was uneventful and the patient was discharged on the fourth postoperative day. The pathology report demonstrated an HA in segments V-VI and FNH in segment III, respectively. Six months later, the patient remains asymptomatic with normal liver function tests, ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging follow-up. To our best knowledge, this is the first case to describe simultaneous occurrence of HA and FNH without the presence of any known risk factors for these entities. The uncertainty in diagnosis and acuteness of presenting symptoms were established criteria for prompt surgical intervention.