Abstract: Objective:To investigate the clinical efficacy of ex vivo liver resection and autotransplantation (ELRA) for liver complex space-occupying lesions.
Methods:The retrospective and descriptive study was conducted. The clinicopathological data of 50 patients with liver complex space-occupying lesions who underwent ELRA in the First Hospital Affiliated to Army Medical University between June 2009 and May 2017 were collected. There were 36 males and 14 females, aged from 13 to 69 years, with a median age of 51 years. All patients underwent ELRA. Observation indicators: (1) surgical situations; (2) postoperative situations; (3) follow-up. Follow-up was conducted by outpatient examination or telephone interview. Patients were followed up according to the individual follow-up plan in the first 6 months after discharge, and then once every 3 to 6 months to detect tumor recurrence and survival up to May 2019. Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as Mean±SD. Measurement data with skewed distribution were represented as M (range). Count data were expressed as absolute numbers or percentages. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate survival rates and draw survival curves, and Log-rank test was used for survival analysis.
Results:(1) Surgical situations: all the 50 patients underwent ELRA successfully, and postoperative pathological examination showed the R0 resection rate was 100%(50/50). The operation time of the 50 patients were (630±186)minutes, of which 9 patients with liver benign occupation had the operation time of (684±168)minutes and 41 patients with liver malignant tumor had the operation time of (618±190)minutes. The operation time of temporary reconstruction of inferior vena cava and portacaval shunt, time of anhepatic phase, volume of intraoperative blood loss of the 50 patients were (35± 9)minutes, (256±71)minutes, 2 000 mL(range, 400-10 000 mL), respectively. The remnant liver mass to standard liver mass ratio of the 50 patients was 65%±16%, of which 9 patients with liver benign occupation had the remnant liver mass to standard liver mass ratio of 63%±14% and 41 patients with liver malignant tumor had the remnant liver mass to standard liver mass ratio of 65%±17%. Of the 50 patients, 35 had vascular invasion (7 cases with liver benign occupation, 28 cases with liver malignant tumor), of which 24 (6 cases with liver benign occupation, 18 cases with liver malignant tumor) underwent in vitro vascular reconstruction, 12 (5 cases with liver benign occupation, 7 cases with liver malignant tumor) had bile duct invasion and underwent choledochojejunostomy due to the inability of the common bile duct to anastomose the ends. Two cases with liver metastasis of gastric cancer, one case with liver metastasis of colon cancer and one case with liver metastasis of pancreatic cancer underwent radical gastrectomy, radical resection of colon cancer, and pancreaticoduodenectomy, respectively. (2) Postoperative situations: the duration of postoperative hospital stay of the 50 patients were 25 days (range, 11-169 days). Of the 50 patients, 12 had pleural effusion who were treated with pleural puncture drainage, 10 had bile leakage who were treated with abdominal puncture drainage, 3 had bile duct anastomotic leakage who were treated with endoscopic nasobiliary drainage or biliary stent implantation, 6 underwent reoperation among which 4 underwent exploratory laparotomy due to abdominal hemorrhage, 1 underwent portal vein reconstruction due to abdominal hemorrhage combined with portal vein thrombosis, and 1 underwent salvage liver transplantation due to liver failure. Nine of the 50 patients died within 90 days after surgery, all of whom had liver malignant tumor. Among them, 3 died of multi-organ dysfunction syndrome caused by severe infection, 3 died of acute liver failure, 2 died of abdominal hemorrhage and 1 died pulmonary embolism. (3) Follow-up: all the 50 patients were followed up for 1 to 119 months. The overall survival time, 1-, 3-, 5-year overall and tumor-free survival rates of the 50 patients after operation were 17 months (range, 1-119 months), 68.0%, 45.9%, 41.1% and 41.9%, 33.4%, 30.8%, respectively. The overall survival time, 1-, 3-, 5-year overall and tumor-free survival rates of the 9 patients who with liver benign occupation after operation were 68 months (range, 10- 114 months), 88.9%, 88.9%, 88.9% and 88.9%, 88.9%, 88.9%, respectively. The overall survival time, 1-, 3-, 5-year overall and tumor-free survival rates of the 41 patients who with liver malignant tumor after operation were 15 months (range, 1-119 months), 63.4%, 36.6%, 31.0% and 31.5%, 21.0%, 18.0%, respectively. There were significant differences in the overall and tumor-free survival rates between patients who with liver benign occupation and patients who with liver malignant tumor (x²=7.626, 11.766, P<0.05).
Conclusions:  ELRA can be applied in the treatment of liver complex space-occupying lesions. The selection criteria of patients with liver malignant tumor should be more rigorous to reduce perioperative mortality.