[Surgery of the liver--past, present and future]

Recent advances in hepatic surgery were reviewed, accompanying our original works, as follows. Segmental anatomy of the liver, including vascular anatomy of the caudate lobe. Typical hepatic lobectomy and radical surgery for hilar carcinoma of the liver. Interruption of the hepatic artery and the portal vein branch, and their clinical significance. Indication and results of hepatic surgery, including primary liver cancer, metastatic liver cancer and localized benign disease of the liver, such as liver cyst, hemangioma, liver abscess and hepatolithiasis. Evaluation of the functional reserve of the liver and operative risk, especially preoperative evaluation of the functional reserve of the remnant liver and long-term prognosis. Furthermore, the progress in the future was expected, mainly on artificial liver, orthotopic partial liver transplantation with donor living and super-extended hepatic resection.