Effect of preoperative portal vein embolization on major hepatectomy for advanced-stage hepatocellular carcinomas in injured livers: a preliminary report.

With the aim of minimizing postoperative liver dysfunction and promoting increased resectability, we employed portal vein embolization (PVE). In this study, the effect of PVE on major hepatic resection for advanced-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in injured livers was evaluated. PVE was performed prior to hepatectomy in 13 patients with stage III and IV HCCs. Following PVE, right trisegmentectomy was performed in 3 patients, extended right lobectomy in 3 and right lobectomy in 7. To evaluate the effect of PVE, the changes in liver functional capacity and estimated remnant liver volume (ERLV), determined by computed tomography, were examined before and after PVE. The operative morbility, mortality, and survival rates after hepatectomy were also assessed. By 2 weeks after PVE, ERLV had increased in all patients, by an average of 28%, and the mean resection rates had decreased from 70.0% to 62.2%. Postoperatively, the 30-day mortality rate was 15.3%, and the 1- and 2-year survival rates were 69% and 46%, respectively. The results of this study indicate that resectability can be increased, and major hepatectomy can be made safer by employing PVE preoperatively, in view of the fact that major hepatectomy was not considered feasible without PVE in these patients.