A case of partial autotransplantation of the liver in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma in Japan is frequently complicated by chronic hepatic disease such as chronic hepatitis and liver cirrhosis, and it is often impossible to decide the range to be resected only based on clinical stage and other tumor factors. We experienced a case with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma complicated by liver cirrhosis that directly infiltrated into the right and middle hepatic vein. Right trisegmentectomy was performed, the tumor site was extracorporeally removed and the hepatic posterior segment was autotransplanted. An anastomosis of the right hepatic vein and the inferior vena cava was performed with a vascular prosthesis. The patencies of the anastomosed vessels in the vascular reconstructions were confirmed by Doppler sonography, which was very useful, providing an easy and exact evaluation of hepatic blood flow at the patient's bedside. Throughout the post-operative course before the patient's discharge, no abnormal hepatic function was found. Though cases for which partial hepatic autotransplantation is appropriate may be few, this operation procedure, which applies hepatic transplantation techniques, is significant in that it increases the resectability and achieves curative resection of hepatocellular carcinoma.