Advances in surgical technique and better perioperative management have significantly improved patient outcomes after liver surgery. Even major hepatectomy can be performed safely with low morbidity and mortality. Pos...Advances in surgical technique and better perioperative management have significantly improved patient outcomes after liver surgery. Even major hepatectomy can be performed safely with low morbidity and mortality. Post-resection liver failure is among the most feared complications after extended hepatectomy. In order to increase the future liver remnant (FLR) and to expand the pool of candidates for surgical resection, Schnitzbauer et al recently presented a new 2-stage surgical approach which combines right portal vein ligation (rPVL) with in situ splitting (ISS) of the liver parenchyma. In comparison to other current strategies, such as interventional portal vein embolization, hypertrophy of the FLR was more pronounced (median volume increase = 74%; range: 21%-192%) and more rapid (after a median of 9 d; range:5-28 d) after rPVL and ISS. In this commentary, we discuss the technical aspects and clinical impact of rPVL combined with ISS. Based on the reported data, this new 2-stage therapeutic approach represents a promising new strategy for patients with locally advanced liver disease, previously regarded as marginally resectable or even unresectable, potentially enabling curative resection. However, morbidity is significant and mortality not negligible.展开更多
Despite great efforts in experimental and clinical research, the prognosis of pancreatic cancer (PC) has not changed significantly for decades. Detection of pre-invasive lesions or early-stage PC with small resectable...Despite great efforts in experimental and clinical research, the prognosis of pancreatic cancer (PC) has not changed significantly for decades. Detection of pre-invasive lesions or early-stage PC with small resectable cancers in asymptomatic individuals remains one of the most promising approaches to substantially improve the overall outcome of PC. Therefore, screening programs have been proposed to identify curable lesions especially in individuals with a familial or genetic predisposition for PC. In this regard, Canto et al recently contributed an important article comparing computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and endoscopic ultrasound for the screening of 216 asymptomatic high-risk individuals (HRI). Pancreatic lesions were detected in 92 of 216 asymptomatic HRI (42.6%). The high diagnostic yield in this study raises several questions that need to be answered of which two will be discussed in detail in this commentary: First: which imaging test should be performed? Second and most importantly: what are we doing with incidentally detected pancreatic lesions? Which ones can be observed and which ones need to be resected?展开更多
文摘Advances in surgical technique and better perioperative management have significantly improved patient outcomes after liver surgery. Even major hepatectomy can be performed safely with low morbidity and mortality. Post-resection liver failure is among the most feared complications after extended hepatectomy. In order to increase the future liver remnant (FLR) and to expand the pool of candidates for surgical resection, Schnitzbauer et al recently presented a new 2-stage surgical approach which combines right portal vein ligation (rPVL) with in situ splitting (ISS) of the liver parenchyma. In comparison to other current strategies, such as interventional portal vein embolization, hypertrophy of the FLR was more pronounced (median volume increase = 74%; range: 21%-192%) and more rapid (after a median of 9 d; range:5-28 d) after rPVL and ISS. In this commentary, we discuss the technical aspects and clinical impact of rPVL combined with ISS. Based on the reported data, this new 2-stage therapeutic approach represents a promising new strategy for patients with locally advanced liver disease, previously regarded as marginally resectable or even unresectable, potentially enabling curative resection. However, morbidity is significant and mortality not negligible.
文摘Despite great efforts in experimental and clinical research, the prognosis of pancreatic cancer (PC) has not changed significantly for decades. Detection of pre-invasive lesions or early-stage PC with small resectable cancers in asymptomatic individuals remains one of the most promising approaches to substantially improve the overall outcome of PC. Therefore, screening programs have been proposed to identify curable lesions especially in individuals with a familial or genetic predisposition for PC. In this regard, Canto et al recently contributed an important article comparing computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and endoscopic ultrasound for the screening of 216 asymptomatic high-risk individuals (HRI). Pancreatic lesions were detected in 92 of 216 asymptomatic HRI (42.6%). The high diagnostic yield in this study raises several questions that need to be answered of which two will be discussed in detail in this commentary: First: which imaging test should be performed? Second and most importantly: what are we doing with incidentally detected pancreatic lesions? Which ones can be observed and which ones need to be resected?