A Translational Approach to Standardization of Machine Perfusion Adoption in Ex Vivo Liver Resection

Hepatic resection represents the best treatment for primary and metastatic liver tumors but is not always feasible. In early 1980, Piclmayr described a complex liver resection technique, termed "ex vivo liver resection," for the treatment of locally advanced tumors not conventionally resectable. The authors approached this technique with translational research in a preclinical setting and then similarly reproduced it in human patients.

In the swine median xyphopubic laparotomy, the liver was mobilized to expose the vena cava. A temporary porto-caval shunt was previously prepared on the back table using a segment of thoracic aorta, and a vascular anastomosis between the supra-hepatic vena cava and a caval graft was quickly performed. The liver was placed in a machine perfusion system and continuously perfused for 2 h for its final implantation orthotopically in the same animal. The anastomoses were performed as usual. Based on this experience, the intervention was reproduced in the human model of a 39-year-old woman affected by large intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma considered unresectable.'

All animals survived the procedure. The peak aspartate aminotransferase level (460 ± 87 U/L) was recorded 60 min after reperfusion. Lactate levels flared up for 120 min (3.6 ± 0.2 mmol/L). In the clinical case, the postoperative period was uneventful, and the patient was discharged on day 22.

The described procedure is feasible only for surgeons with a transplantation background. The study showed that this translational approach enhances the surgeon's ability to perform the intervention systematically in a shorter time and with a good outcome.