[Resection of vena cava inferior infiltrating by liver tumors]

Introduction: Despite all new promising agents of oncotherapy, it is still liver resection that gives potential curative solution for primary and secondary liver tumors. The size of tumorous liver section for resection means no question any more but major vessel infiltration of tumor proposes challenge in liver surgery. Patients and method: Retrospective analysis was carried out covering 33 patients who underwent liver resection in St. Janos Hospital Surgery Department between 1st May 2017 and 1st May 2019. Demographic, surgical, histological data and postoperative course were taken into consideration and comparison with two of our patients who needed vena cava excision simultaneously with liver resection. Results: Patients with liver resection only (LR) had a mean operation time of 91.7 minutes, while operation time for patients with cava resection (CR) was 250 minutes. The average amount of blood transfusion was 1.2 units (200 ml) in group LR and 5 units in group CR. Among LR patients, resection was rated R0 in 23 and R1 in 8 cases, R2 resection could be performed in 2 cases, in group CR in both cases R1 resection was registered. 5 patients with colorectal liver metastasis were operated after previous chemotherapy. Two patients underwent laparoscopic liver resection and two had synchronous colorectal and liver resection, one of these was treated via laparoscopic approach. Conclusion: Liver resections in case of large vessel (vena cava, hepatic vein) infiltrating by liver tumors are indicated the most challenging procedures of liver surgery. The relating literature refers to oncological liver resections with vena cava excision and reconstruction to be safe and applicable. Orv Hetil. 2019; 160(33): 1304-1310.

Abdominal Compartment Syndrome After Liver Transplant in Drug-Induced Acute Liver Failure: A Case Report

The incidence of drug-induced acute liver failure (ALF) has been increasing in recent years. Despite the complex intensive treatment, liver transplant should be performed in progressive cases. A systemic inflammatory response syndrome and the burden of surgical intervention promote abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS); observed preoperatively, they are significant negative prognostic factors. THE CASE: We demonstrate a young woman with liver transplant after ALF and a consecutive ACS. We presumed drug toxicity in the background of the rapidly progressive ALF, based on the preoperative hematologic examination and the histology of the removed liver. An ACS has occurred in the postoperative period that must have been resolved with mesh, and later, anatomic segment 2-3 resection had to be performed to further decrease the pressure. The patient left the hospital after 62 days with good graft function. DISCUSSION: A complex intensive care is mandatory in the case of orthotopic liver transplant for ALF. Outcomes are good after orthotopic liver transplant. An ACS might occur after surgery. In these rare cases a delayed abdominal closure or even a liver resection can be the only solution and sometimes an urgent need to resolve the life-threatening problem.

MARS therapy, the bridging to liver retransplantation - Three cases from the Hungarian liver transplant program

Besides orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) there is no long-term and effective replacement therapy for severe liver failure. Artificial extracorporeal liver supply devices are able to reduce blood toxin levels, but do not replace any synthetic function of the liver. Molecular adsorbent recirculating system (MARS) is one of the methods that can be used to treat fulminant acute liver failure (ALF) or acute on chronic liver failure (AoCLF). The primary non-function (PNF) of the newly transplanted liver manifests in the clinical settings exactly like acute liver failure. MARS treatment can reduce the severity of complications by eliminating blood toxins, so that it can help hepatic encephalopathy (HE), hepatorenal syndrome (HRS), and the high rate mortality of cerebral herniation. This might serve as a bridging therapy before orthotopic liver retransplantation (reOLT). Three patients after a first liver transplantation became candidate for urgent MARS treatment as a bridging solution prior to reOLT in our center. Authors report these three cases, fo-cusing on indications, MARS sessions, clinical courses, and final outcomes.

[Recent options in drug therapy after solid organ transplantation]

Solid organ transplantation has shown improvement in patient and graft survival rates due to the development of immunosuppression in the last fifty years; however only the last two decades led to the development of new, baseline immunosuppressive drugs that avoid the unlikely side effects of calcineurin inhibitors, especially nephrotoxicity. The transplanted organ is foreign to the host and, therefore, it induces a complex immune response of the recipient. In this review, a brief outline of immune response is given, followed by the introduction of new immunosuppressive drugs acting via variant pathways. These are compounds which are already in use or becoming shortly available and are potential future alternatives for the calcineurin inhibitors. This paper highlights the role of co-stimulation blockade with belatacept and the recently even more intensively studied field of tolerance induction.