Perineural invasion is an important prognostic factor in pancreatic cancer, increasing as the cancer becomes undifferentiated. Even if there are no cancer cells at the margin of the pancreas at the time of surgery, the cancer cells may spread further to the noncancerous pancreas or retroperitoneum. Sufficient dissection of the neural plexus or intraoperative radiation may be required.

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Results of surgical treatments for 57 patients who underwent resection for hepatic hilar bile duct cancer between 1984 and 1997 were studied. Bile duct resection was performed in eight patients, and combined resection of bile duct and liver was performed in 49 patients, of whom vascular reconstruction was added in 15 patients and pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) in six patients. All the operations of bile duct resection that were not combined with hepatectomy were non-curative. In the patients who underwent combined resection of the bile duct with liver, outcomes of the patients with well-differentiated adenocarcinoma were better than those with other lower-grade tumors. The factors related to the degree of tumor extension, such as serosal invasion, lymph node metastasis, lymphatic vessel invasion, perineural invasion, venous vessel invasion, and vascular involvement, were other factors which significantly influenced the survival. Curative resection yielded significantly better results than non-curative resection. Of all these variables, good tumor differentiation and vascular involvement were recognized as important prognostic factors by multivariate analysis. Most of the postoperative deaths were encountered in patients who underwent additional operations to hepatectomy, such as vascular reconstruction or PD. Improvement of surgical techniques and perioperative care has yielded better outcomes of vascular reconstruction. However, the application of hepatopancreatoduodenectomy should be limited due to poor outcomes of widespread bile duct cancer of which the histological grade is usually low. Whereas prognosis of bile duct cancer involving the hepatic hilus is mainly determined by the biologic characteristics of the tumor, surgeons should consider the fact that most patients die of local recurrence regardless of the biologic character of the tumor when curative resection is not performed.

Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a cholestatic disease characterized by chronic inflammatory fibrosis of the extra- and intrahepatic bile ducts. Although the prognosis of patients with PSC was believed to be poor, some patients have not experienced the expected rapid clinical progression. A 51-year-old man with PSC was initially hospitalized for jaundice. Laboratory data showed low levels of the complement components C3, C4, and CH50. Percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage was performed. Cholangiography revealed complete obstruction of the common bile duct below the confluence of the cystic duct. The confluence of the hepatic duct was resected and it was reconstructed by hepaticojejunostomy for palliation of the obstructive jaundice. Increased thickness of the walls of the common bile duct, right hepatic bile duct, and gallbladder was observed. Histopathological examination of the resected specimen revealed periductal fibrosis, with an onion-skin-like appearance. The patient is currently doing well, approximately 7 years after the surgery, without any signs of PSC recurrence. In this extraordinary patient, the laboratory data for C3, C4, and CH50 showed a complete return to normal levels. The positive results in this patient suggest that resection of the confluence of the hepatic duct may be an effective surgical treatment for noncirrhotic PSC patients who have dominant extrahepatic strictures.

Subfractions of bilirubin in bile, obtained via biliary drainage tubes from 23 patients who had undergone radical surgery for bile duct cancer, were analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography for 14 days after surgery. Five principal conjugated bilirubins were resolved: bilirubin diglucuronide (BDG); bilirubin monoglucuronide monoglucoside (BGG); bilirubin monoglucuronide monoxyloside (BGX); and two isomers of bilirubin monoglucuronide. After surgery, depression in concentration of BDG and elevation of BGG and BGX were found. These alterations were of higher magnitude in patients who had undergone hepatectomy, and especially prolonged in patients with hyperbilirubinaemia. These results suggest that the alteration in proportions of bilirubin conjugates might be a cause of hyperbilirubinaemia after hepatectomy.

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Abstract:A microsurgical technique was used in performing anterior hepatic segmentectomy and pancreatoduodenectomy with reconstruction of the posterior hepatic artery in a 64-year-old man with widespread bile duct cancer from the intrapancreatic bile duct over the hepatic hilus. The anterior hepatic artery was obviously involved and the posterior hepatic artery just behind common hepatic duct was very close to the cancer. Microsurgical anastomosis between the remnant gastroduodenal artery and the posterior hepatic artery at the hepatic hilus made it possible to preserve the posterior segment of the liver and to perform a curative resection of the cancer. The patient had pyrexia because of suprahepatic abscess after the operation, but the abscess drained spontaneously. Postoperative arteriogram showed neither obstruction nor kinking of the reconstructed artery. He was discharged 2 months after surgery and has been enjoying a normal quality of life for 10 months since, with no signs of recurrence. It is suggested that a microsurgical technique is useful for performing an accurate anastomosis with good patency that allows not only a safe but also a highly curative operation for advanced bile duct cancer.