Hepatic segmentectomy for curative resection of primary hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the feasibility and results of segmentectomy for curative resection of hepatocellular carcinoma and to compare the clinicopathological findings of the patients according to the tumor location in the liver.

Design: Case series.

Setting: A tertiary care center.

Patients: Seventy-five patients with Child's grade A or B liver function who had hepatocellular carcinoma that was confined to one segment and who underwent segmentectomy for curative resection of the tumor. The patients were divided into four groups: group P (posterior segmentectomy, n = 23); group A (anterior segmentectomy, n = 10); group M (medial segmentectomy, n = 16); and group L (lateral segmentectomy, n = 26).

Main outcome measure: Disease-free survival rate.

Results: Seventy-three percent of the patients had cirrhosis of the liver. The surgical mortality and morbidity rates were 5.3% and 36.0%, respectively. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year disease-free survival rates were 61.9%, 39.1%, and 26.3%, respectively, and were not significantly different among the four groups (P = .86). Group L had the least operative blood loss and shortest operative time when compared with the other three groups (P < .05). The postoperative liver function changes were mild and transient in the four groups of patients. With regard to pathological factors, only tumor size differed among the groups (tumors in group L were significantly larger than those in the other three groups, P < .05). Forty-three percent of the recurrent tumors were solitary in the early stage, with 81% involving the segment(s) adjacent to the resected one and 57% being confined solely to the segment adjacent to the resected segment. Patients having recurrent hepatocellular carcinomas had significantly larger tumors at the time of resection than did those without recurrence (P = .03).

Conclusions: Hepatic segmentectomy is an effective therapeutic approach for small hepatocellular carcinomas and can be done safely even in patients with chronic liver disease and impaired liver function.