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Updated: Jul 20, 2026
Development and Angiographic Use of the Rabbit VX2 Model for Liver Cancer
Published on: January 7, 2019
Prosthetic replacement of the infrahepatic inferior vena cava for leiomyosarcoma
Giulio Illuminati1, Francesco G Calio', Antonio D'Urso
1The Francesco Durante Department of Surgery, University of Rome La Sapienza, Rome, Italy. giulio.illuminati@uniroma1.it
Hypothesis:
Resection of the infrahepatic inferior vena cava associated with prosthetic graft replacement for caval leiomyosarcoma is an acceptable procedure to obtain prolonged and good-quality survival.
Design:
A consecutive sample clinical study with a mean follow-up of 40 months.
Setting:
The surgical department of an academic tertiary center and an affiliated secondary care center.
Patients:
Eleven patients, with a mean age of 51 years, who have primary leiomyosarcoma of the infrahepatic inferior vena cava.
Interventions:
All of the patients underwent radical resection of the tumor en bloc with the affected segment of the vena cava. Reconstruction consisted of 10 cavocaval polytetrafluoroethylene grafts and 1 cavobiliac graft. An associated right nephrectomy was performed in 2 cases. The left renal vein was reimplanted in the graft in 3 cases.
Main Outcome Measures:
Cumulative disease-specific survival, disease-free survival, and graft patency rates expressed by standard life-table analysis.
Results:
No patients died in the postoperative period. The cumulative (SE) disease-specific survival rate was 53% (21%) at 5 years. The cumulative (SE) disease-free survival rate was 44% (19%) at 5 years. The cumulative (SE) graft patency rate was 67% (22%) at 5 years.
Conclusion:
Radical resection followed by prosthetic graft reconstruction is a valuable method for treating primary leiomyosarcoma of the infrahepatic inferior vena cava.
