Magnetic resonance-based total liver volume and magnetic resonance-diffusion weighted imaging for staging liver fibrosis in mini-pigs

AIM:To determine whether and how magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)-based total liver volume(TLV) and diffusion weighted imaging(DWI) could predict liver fibrosis.METHODS:Sixteen experimental mature mini-pigs(6 males,10 females),weighing between 20.0 and 24.0 kg were prospectively used to model liver fibrosis induced by intraperitoneal injection of 40% CCl4 dissolved in fat emulsion twice a week for 16 wk,and by feeding 40% CCl4 mixed with maize flour twice daily for the subsequent 5 wk.All the survival animals underwent percutaneous liver biopsy and DWI using b = 300,500 and 800 s/mm2 followed by abdominal gadolinium-enhanced MRI at the 0,5th,9th,16th and 21st weekend after beginning of the modeling.TLV was obtained on enhanced MRI,and apparent diffusion coefficient(ADC) was obtained on DWI.Hepatic tissue specimens were stained with hematoxylin and Masson' s trichrome staining for staging liver fibrosis.Pathological specimens were scored using the human METAVIR classification system.Statistical analyses were performed to determine whether and how the TLV and ADC could be used to predict the stage of liver fibrosis.RESULTS:TLV increased from stage 0 to 2 and decreased from stage 3(r = 0.211;P < 0.001).There was a difference in TLV between stage 0-1 and 2-4(P = 0.03) whereas no difference between stage 0-2 and 3-4(P = 0.71).TLV could predict stage ≥ 2 [area under receiver operating characteristic curve(AUC) = 0.682].There was a decrease in ADC values with increasing stage of fibrosis for b = 300,500 and 800 s/mm2(r =-0.418,-0.535 and-0.622,respectively;all P < 0.001).Differences were found between stage 0-1 and 2-4 in ADC values for b = 300,500 and 800 s/mm2,and between stage 0-2 and 3-4 for b = 500 or 800 s/mm2(all P < 0.05).For predicting stage ≥ 2 and ≥ 3,AUC was 0.803 and 0.847 for b = 500 s/mm2,and 0.848 and 0.887 for b = 800 s/mm2,respectively.CONCLUSION:ADC for b = 500 or 800 s/mm2 could be better than TLV and ADC for b = 300 s/mm2 to pre-dict fibrosis stage ≥ 2 or ≥ 3.

Ex-situ liver surgery without veno-venous bypass

AIM:To evaluate the results of hepatic resection with ex-situ hypothermic perfusion and without veno-venous bypass.METHODS:In 3 patients with liver tumor,the degree of the inferior vena cava and/or main hepatic vein involvement was verified when the liver was dissociated in the operation.It was impossible to resect the tumors by the routine hepatectomy,so the patients underwent ex-situ liver surgery,vein cava replacement and hepatic autotransplantation without veno-venous bypass.All surgical procedures were carried out or supervised by a senior surgeon.A retrospective analysis was performed for the prospectively collected data from patients with liver tumor undergoing ex-situ liver surgery,vein cava replacement and hepatic autotransplantation without veno-venous bypass.We also compared our data with the 9 cases of Pichlmayr's group.RESULTS:Three patients with liver tumor were analysed.The first case was a 60-year-old female with a huge haemangioma located in S1,S4,S5,S6,S7 and S8 of liver;the second was a 64-year-old man with cholangiocarcinoma in S1,S2,S3 and S4 and the third one was a 55-year-old man with a huge cholangiocarcinoma in S1,S5,S7 and S8.The operation time for the three patients were 6.6,6.4 and 7.3 h,respectively.The anhepatic phases were 3.8,2.8 and 4.0 h.The volume of blood loss during operation were 1200,3100,2000 mL in the three patients,respectively.The survival periods without recurrence were 22 and 17 mo in the first two cases.As for the third case complicated with postoperative hepatic vein outflow obstruction,emergency hepatic vein outflow extending operation and assistant living donor liver transplantation were performed the next day,and finally died of liver and renal failure on the third day.Operation time(6.7 ± 0.47 h vs 13.7 ± 2.6 h) and anhepatic phase(3.5 ± 0.64 h vs 5.7 ± 1.7 h) were compared between Pichlmayr's group and our series(P = 0.78).CONCLUSION:Ex-situ liver resection and liver autotransplantation has shown a potential for treatment of complicated hepatic neoplasms that are unresectable by traditional procedures.

A three-factor preoperative scoring model predicts risk of recurrence after liver resection or transplantation in hepatocellular carcinoma patients with preserved liver function

BACKGROUND： No staging systems of hepatocellular carcinoma（HCC） are tailored for assessing recurrence risk. We sought to establish a recurrence risk scoring system to predict recurrence of HCC patients receiving surgical curative treatment（liver resection or transplantation）.METHODS： We retrospectively studied 286 HCC patients with preserved liver function receiving liver resection（n=184） or transplantation（n=102）. Independent risk factors were identified to construct the recurrence risk scoring model. The recurrence free survival and discriminatory ability of the model were analyzed. RESULTS： Total tumor volume, HBs Ag status, plasma fibrinogen level were included as independent prognostic factors for recurrence-free survival and used for constructing a 3-factor recurrence risk scoring model. The scoring model was as follows： 0.758×HBs Ag status（negative： 0; positive： 1）＋0.387×plasma fibrinogen level（≤3.24 g/L： 0; 〉3.24 g/L： 1）＋0.633×total tumor volume（≤107.5 cm3： 0; 〉107.5 cm3： 1）. The cutoff value was set to 1.02, and we defined the patients with the score ≤1.02 as a low risk group and those with the score 〉1.02 as a high risk group. The 3-year recurrence-free survival rate was significantly higher in the low risk group compared with that in the high risk group（67.9% vs 41.3%, P〈0.001）. In the subgroup analysis, liver transplantation patients had a better3-year recurrence-free survival rate than the liver resection patients in the low risk group（80.0% vs 64.0%, P〈0.01）. Additionally for patients underwent liver transplantation, we compared the recurrence risk model with the Milan criteria in the prediction of recurrence, and the 3-year recurrence survival rates were similar（80.0% vs 79.3%, P=0.906）.CONCLUSION： Our recurrence risk scoring model is effective in categorizing recurrence risks and in predicting recurrencefree survival of HCC before potential surgical curative treatment.