Management and long-term follow-up of hepatic cysts

Rapidly enlarging solitary nonparasitic cyst of the liver in a child presenting as acute abdomen

Symptomatic solitary nonparasitic cysts of the liver (SNCL) are rarely encountered in children, especially rapidly enlarging cysts presenting as acute abdomen. Therefore, it is difficult to establish the pre-operative diagnosis and to determine the treatment protocol of SNCL. While imaging techniques such as ultrasonography and computed tomography are modalities for diagnosis of SNCL, making a pre-operative diagnosis in the case of very large cysts remains difficult. We present a child with SNCL who initially presented with a rapidly enlarging cyst presenting as acute abdomen, and also provide a review of the literature. Moreover, we evaluate the surgical procedures and conclude that total excision of the cysts when possible is a suitable treatment procedure in children.

Polycystic liver disease: multimodality imaging for complications and transplant evaluation

Polycystic liver disease (PLD) is usually associated with polycystic kidney disease but may also occur as an isolated finding in a rarer genetically distinct disease. In either case, the cyst burden will progress over time and, in rare cases, may affect liver function or become symptomatic due to massive hepatomegaly. The character, distribution, location, and size of hepatic cysts are important. Computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, or ultrasonography may provide the surgeon with valuable preoperative information, such as the location of infected or hemorrhagic cysts that may be responsible for symptoms. Less invasive cyst aspiration or fenestration may provide temporary relief from dominant or symptomatic cysts, but these cysts will recur in up to 75% of patients. Cyst fenestration with partial hepatic resection and liver transplantation are two therapies that provide more permanent resolution of symptoms in patients with extensive hepatic involvement. However, the higher risk of complications associated with more aggressive surgical therapy must be considered when determining the appropriate therapy for a given patient. Knowledge of the cyst patterns and available treatment options in patients with PLD will help the radiologist provide the referring clinician with important information for therapeutic decision making.

[Hepatobiliary cystoadenomas]

Cystoadenomas of the liver are rare cystic tumors that have seldom been reported. Accurate preoperative diagnosis is difficult because they are usually mistaken for more frequent lesions. Due to their malignant potential, complete surgical removal of the lesion is required. Correct diagnosis is guided by clinical history, radiological imaging, and laboratory parameters. We report two of these rare cases and discuss the spectrum of presentation, pathological features and treatment of these tumors.

Biliary Cystadenoma and Other Complicated Cystic Lesions of The Liver: Diagnostic and Therapeutic Challenges

INTRODUCTION

Biliary cystadenomas are complicated cystic lesions of the liver. They are rare and pose considerable diagnostic and therapeutic challenges.

METHODS

We present our experience managing these lesions by performing a retrospective review of all patients with a preoperative diagnosis of or histologically proven biliary cystadenoma who underwent surgery between January 1995 and January 2005 at our institution. Altogether, 20 patients (16 women, 4 men) with a mean age of 58 years underwent a total of 22 operations. The diagnosis of biliary cystadenoma was based on exclusion of other pathologic entities and the presence of radiologic characteristics of biliary cystadenoma. Abdominal ultrasonography (US), computed tomography, or both were performed in all patients. US-guided fine-needle aspiration cytology was performed in seven patients and all of them were negative for malignancy. A preoperative diagnosis of biliary cystadenoma was made in 16 patients based on clinical and radiologic features and was correct in 6 of them. Diagnosis of biliary cystadenoma was not suspected in four patients.

RESULTS

The overall diagnostic accuracy was 30%. Enucleation was the most common surgical procedure and was performed in 10 patients. The mean follow-up period was 5.5+/-2.8 years. No recurrence was detected in patients with confirmed biliary cystadenoma after adequate excision.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings of this study highlight the difficulty with preoperative diagnosis of biliary cystadenoma, which has seldom been discussed in the literature. Preoperative differentiation by means of radiologic imaging is inaccurate (30%). Any therapy short of complete excision leads to local recurrence and risk of malignant transformation. Complete excision of any suspicious lesion remains the best method of diagnosis and treatment.

Laparoscopic treatment of biliary hepatic cysts: short- and medium-term results

BACKGROUND

The aim of this study was to evaluate the postoperative morbidity and, in the medium-term results, the incidence of relapses in the laparoscopic treatment of non-parasitic hepatic cysts (NPHC) and polycystic liver disease (PCLD).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

From 1999 to 2003, 12 patients with NPHC and 3 patients with PCLD with few large cysts in the anterior hepatic segments underwent laparoscopic fenestration and deroofing.

RESULTS

There were no conversions and no mortality; the mean operative time was 55 min for NPHC and 120 min for PCLD. Postoperative morbidity comprised two patients with bronchopneumonic infiltrations and in one patient with PCLD ascites resolved spontaneously. All the patients experienced resolution of the symptomatology. Follow-up was carried out from 3 to 38 months (mean 18 months). There was no relapse of the disease.

DISCUSSION

The preoperative selection of patients is fundamental to program the surgical treatment. Laparoscopy can be considered a safe and efficacious treatment for NPHC and PCLD.

New advances in evaluation and management of patients with polycystic liver disease

Adult polycystic liver disease (APLD) is an autosomal dominant condition most commonly associated with polycystic kidney disease. However, over the last decade it has come to be recognized that APLD is a genetically heterogeneous disorder involving derangements on at least three different chromosomes. Mutations involving chromosomes 16 and 4 accounting for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) type 1 and type 2 have been well described as have their gene products, polycystin-1 and polycystin-2. These have since been joined by a more recently recognized mutation in the short arm of chromosome 19 thought to be responsible for a much rarer form of autosomal dominant polycystic liver disease without any associated renal involvement. Despite the sometimes impressive physical and radiologic findings, only a minority of patients will progress to advanced liver disease or develop complications as a result of massive hepatomegaly. In these patients, medical management alone has proved ineffectual. Therefore, in the symptomatic APLD patient, surgical therapy remains the mainstay of therapy and includes cyst aspiration and sclerosis, fenestration with and without hepatic resection and orthotopic liver transplantation. The surgical literature on treatment of APLD, to include outcome measurements and complication rates are summarized. Additionally, we review other potential organ involvement and resultant complications.

Polycystic liver disease: experience at a teaching hospital

OBJECTIVES

This study describes the natural history of patients with polycystic liver disease, a rare disorder characterized by multiple hepatic cysts.

METHODS

Cases were identified through review of charts from a hepatology practice, a hepatobiliary surgery practice and a retrospective chart review of inpatient charts from 1990 to 2002. All patients had greater than four simple liver cysts without infectious etiology. Medical records were reviewed for history, physical examination, imaging, and laboratory data. Patients' family practitioners provided follow-up.

RESULTS

Fifty-three cases (62.3% female, 37.7% male) were identified. The mean age at diagnosis was 56.4 yr. Thirty-eight cases (71.7%) had associated polycystic kidney disease. The minority of patients were symptomatic at diagnosis (pain in 19 (36.5%), dyspnea in 5 (9.6%), and restricted mobility in 5 (9.6%) with hepatomegaly in 23 (45.1%). Follow-up information was attainable for 40 patients with a mean follow-up duration of 4.69 yr (range 0.1-15 yr). Within this subgroup, 9 patients (22.5%) had cyst bleeding, 5 (12.5%) had cyst rupture, 5 (12.5%) had cyst infection, 12 (30%) required an intervention. One patient (2.5%) developed portal hypertension, and two (5%) received a liver transplant. One patient (2.5%) died due to complications from liver cysts.

CONCLUSIONS

Most patients in this highly selected cohort were asymptomatic with normal hepatic function. Pain was the most common symptom. The natural history is variable however, with some patients developing complications including portal hypertension. Minimally invasive interventions are appropriate initially, with hepatic resection and liver transplantation reserved for those with severe symptoms or life-threatening complications.

Role of fenestration and resection for symptomatic solitary liver cysts

BACKGROUND

Symptomatic liver cysts can be managed surgically by fenestration or by hepatic resection. The present study was designed to investigate the current role of each surgical technique in the management of this benign condition.

METHODS

Forty consecutive patients with symptomatic liver cyst (non-parasitic and non-malignant) surgically treated by fenestration or resection were identified from a prospectively collected database. An analysis of primary outcome measures including operative parameters, morbidity and mortality rates, length of postoperative stay and recurrence rates in months was carried out.

RESULTS

The laparoscopic fenestration group had the best perioperative outcome. At median follow up of 20 months, there were no recurrences in the resection group but recurrence occurred in 6/27 (22%) in the fenestration group. Four of these recurrences were asymptomatic and were managed conservatively while two symptomatic recurrences required a resection.

CONCLUSION

Laparoscopic fenestration is the best treatment for symptomatic liver cysts as the primary operation. It is associated with the lowest blood loss, lowest morbidity and shortest hospital stay. Liver resection is best reserved for recurrent symptomatic cysts and cystic lesions suspicious of tumours where it can be safely performed and associated with a zero recurrence rate.

The diagnosis and management of benign hepatic tumors

Benign hepatic tumors include a broad spectrum of regenerative and true neoplastic processes. Because of advances in imaging studies such as computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as well as progress in immunohistochemistry, accurate diagnosis can now be made in a large percentage of patients without surgical laparotomy or resection. This article will focus on the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and management of focal benign lesions of the liver. Many of these tumors present with typical features in various imaging studies. On occasions, biopsies are required and/or surgical removal is needed. The most common benign hepatic tumors include cavernous hemangioma, focal nodular hyperplasia, hepatic adenoma, and nodular regenerative hyperplasia. In the majority of cases of benign hepatic tumors, patients are asymptomatic, and no treatment is indicated. The main indication for treatment is the presence of significant clinical symptoms or suspicion of malignancy or fear of malignant transformation.

Incidental cystadenoma after laparoscopic treatment of hepatic cysts: which strategy?

Biliary cystadenoma is a very rare hepatic neoplasm, accounting for fewer than 5% of cystic neoplasms of the liver; regardless of the various diagnostic modalities, such a lesion may be difficult to distinguish preoperatively from a cystadenocarcinoma. Although a diagnosis of cystadenoma during open hepatic surgery demands a complete surgical resection, there are few reports describing the correct approach to such lesions after a laparoscopic approach. This article presents the first case series of incidental cystadenoma after laparoscopic surgery for hepatic cystic lesions. One patient with a polycystic liver disease treated with a laparoscopic enucleation of the larger cyst declined the reintervention after the diagnosis of cystadenoma; she had no recurrence at follow-up. One patient with a large simple hepatic cyst laparoscopically enucleated had no recurrence at the 18-month follow-up. In one patient, there was a high suspicion of recurrence of cystadenoma after the laparoscopic fenestration of a large cyst, but a histopathological specimen obtained after the open surgical resection could not confirm any signs of cystadenoma. The incidental finding of biliary cystadenoma after laparoscopic fenestration of a cystic hepatic lesion requires an open hepatic resection. When a complete laparoscopic enucleation of the cyst may be assured, a strict clinical, biochemical, and radiologic follow-up could be considered as the definitive treatment, demanding the surgical intervention only in case of recurrence or high suspicion for malignancy.

Ciliated hepatic foregut cyst: A rare but increasingly reported liver cyst

We report a case of a ciliated hepatic foregut cyst (CHFC) in the left lobe of the liver in a 42-year-old woman. To date, only 60 cases of these respiratory epithelial lined hepatic cysts have been reported since first described by Friedrich in 1857. CHFC are believed to be congenitally derived from the embryonic foregut and are considered benign lesions that are most often unilocular. Recently, however, there has been documented malignant transformation in these cysts. The majority of patients with a CHFC are asymptomatic and the cyst is usually an incidental finding during abdominal imaging studies or during surgical exploration. Interestingly, 85% of the total number of cases of CHFC have been reported within the last two decades. This recent rise in case reports is likely explained by greater detection because of the dramatic rise in the use of abdominal imaging. In our case, however, ultrasound failed to demonstrate any lesion within the liver and on computed tomography the cyst was more consistent with a soft tissue mass. Therefore, pathologic evaluation was necessary for the correct diagnosis of this liver lesion and to exclude malignancy.

Hepatobiliary cystadenoma: diagnostic uncertainty

BACKGROUND

Hepatobiliary cystadenoma is a rare tumour that can be clinically 'silent' and only discovered as an incidental finding on ultrasonography (US). It can also be symptomatic with abdominal pain and jaundice or develop internal bleeding and (exceptionally) malignant degeneration. Therefore the treatment of choice is liver resection.

CASE OUTLINE

A 77-year-old woman was admitted with mild jaundice and right hypochondrial pain. For 7 years she had been known to have a silent liver lesion, always considered to be a simple cyst on US. US and CT scan revealed a multi-septate mass involving segments IV, V and VIII of the liver, with thick walls, no calcifications and no contrast enhancement. US-guided aspiration showed the presence of old blood-stained material. The patient was operated with a suspected diagnosis of bleeding into a simple cyst. A Lin fenestration was performed with wide excision of the anterior wall of the cyst. Pathological examination demonstrated a mucinous hepatobiliary cystadenoma. The postoperative course was uneventful, and follow-up at 2 years confirmed no recurrence.

DISCUSSION

Imaging will normally help to distinguish the occasional hepatobiliary cystadenoma from the common simple cyst. Otherwise, when a complication occurs, preoperative differentiation may become impossible, and requires histological examination of the cyst after surgical removal.

Laparoscopic management of benign liver diseases: where are we?

The role of laparoscopic surgery in the management of benign cystic and solid liver tumours appears to differ according to each tumour type. As regards congenital liver cysts, laparoscopic treatment is now the gold standard for treating selected, huge, accessible, highly symptomatic or complicated cysts. In contrast, the laparoscopic approach is not useful for patients suffering from adult polycystic liver disease (PLD), except for type I PLD with large multiple hepatic cysts. For benign hepatocellular tumours, the surgical management has recently benefited from a better knowledge of the natural history of each type of tumour and from the improvement of imaging techniques in assuring a precise diagnosis of tumour nature. Thus the general tendency has led to a progressive restriction and tailoring of indications for resection in benign liver tumours, selecting only patients with huge, specifically symptomatic or compressive benign tumours or patients suffering from liver cell adenoma. Despite the enthusiastic use of the laparoscopic approach, selective indications for resection of benign liver tumours should indeed remain unchanged. For all types of benign liver tumours, the best indication remains small, superficial lesions, located in the anterior or the lateral segments of the liver. Deep, centrally located lesions or tumours in contact with major vascular or biliary trunks are not ideal candidates for laparoscopic liver resections. When performed by expert liver and laparoscopic surgeons using an adequate surgical technique, the laparoscopic approach is safe for performing minor liver resections and is accompanied by the usual postoperative benefits of laparoscopic surgery. When applied in selected patients and tumours, laparoscopic management of benign liver diseases appears to be a promising technique for hepatobiliary surgeons.

Laparoscopic treatment using an argon beam coagulator for nonparasitic liver cysts

BACKGROUND

Laparoscopic deroofing has been shown to produce good patient satisfaction and to have results similar to those of open surgical techniques. We evaluated the feasibility and efficacy of laparoscopic deroofing using an argon beam coagulator (ABC) in the patients with nonparasitic liver cysts.

METHODS

Laparoscopic deroofing for the treatment of liver cysts was attempted on 14 patients. After the deroofing, the secreting epithelium within the residual cystic cavity wall was destroyed using the ABC.

RESULTS

Laparoscopic deroofing was successful in all patients. No deaths or surgical morbidity occurred, and no postoperative complications were recorded. The median postoperative hospital stay was 7 days. The median follow-up was 56 months for all patients, and all patients have remained completely asymptomatic for 6 months after the surgery, with no recurrence of the cysts.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results indicate that laparoscopic deroofing using the ABC method in patients with nonparasitic liver cysts was effective in preventing cyst recurrence.