Liver resection combined with inferior vena cava resection and reconstruction using artificial vascular graft: A literature review.

In cases where liver tumors invade the inferior vena cava (IVC), IVC resection along with liver resection may be needed to effect a cure. Furthermore, if the IVC defect is large, IVC reconstruction with vascular graft after resection is required. There are limited reports of cases of IVC reconstruction using a graft. By reviewing data from the literature of previous studies, the present study was aimed at investigating the surgical outcomes of liver resection with IVC resection and reconstruction using an artificial vascular graft. PubMed was searched for previous articles reporting cases with the combined surgery. The search was limited to articles in English, and cases with exceptional surgeries such as in situ cold perfusion, and ante situm and ex vivo techniques were excluded from this study. Surgical outcomes of the extracted cases were investigated. Cases dealt only with primary closure after IVC resection, and those in which the IVC tumor thrombus was treated by opening the IVC wall, removing the thrombus and then closing the IVC without wall excision were not included in this study. The literature search identified 13 studies, including 111 cases. Operative mortality in the reported cases was 8.1% (9 out of 111 cases). Thrombus in the artificial vascular graft was observed in two cases, and patency of the graft during the follow-up period was confirmed in 109 of the 111 cases (98.2%). These results suggested that the surgical outcomes of liver resection combined with IVC resection and reconstruction using the artificial vascular graft were favorable.