Treatment of recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma by hepatectomy with right and middle hepatic vein reconstruction using total vascular exclusion with extracorporeal bypass and hypothermic hepatic perfusion: report of a case.

We report herein the case of a patient who had previously undergone a lateral segmentectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in whom recurrent HCC invading the trunk of the right and middle hepatic veins in a damaged liver was treated by reconstruction of both hepatic veins, using total vascular exclusion with extracorporeal bypass and hypothermic hepatic perfusion. Reconstruction was performed using a graft taken from the left external iliac vein and divided into two pieces. Hepatic ischemia lasted for 91 min during the procedure and the intrahepatic temperature, as monitored by inserting a needle-type thermometer, was decreased to 11 degrees C throughout the procedure. The peak levels of serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase, lactate dehydrogenase, and total bilirubin were 363 IU/l, 1198 IU/ml, and 2.8 mg/dl, respectively, on postoperative day (POD) 2. The patient's postoperative course was uneventful except for mild, temporary swelling of the left leg. Postoperative computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging examinations disclosed no obstruction of either graft, and the patient was discharged on POD 40.