Liver surgery: the past 2000 years

Abstract

Liver surgery has grown over 2000 years from the mystic hepatoscopy of the Babylonians to the ultimate of orthotopic transplantation by Starzl in 1968. The first successful liver resection was for trauma by Hildanus in the 17th century. The first successful planned resection was by Langenbuch in 1888 and the first hemihepatectomy by Wendel in 1911. The principles of liver regeneration and liver haemostasis were determined in the period 1880-1900: Ponfick, Mayer, Kousnetzoff, Pensky and Pringle made significant contributions. Couinaud and Healey and Schroy popularized segmental anatomy: Lortat-Jacob and Robert performed the first inflow ligation resection and started the modern era. Starzl brought liver transplantation to its current status and Bismuth introduced hepatobiliary units as a means of optimizing treatment of liver disease.