Portal vein arterialization: a possibility in cholangiocarcinomas infiltrating the right hepatic artery?

Portal vein arterialization (PVA) in advanced cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is an emerging field of study too little explored despite its potential oncological results. Still to this day, advanced CCA, including peri-hilar (pCCA) and distal (dCCA) CCA, represents a surgical challenge. At diagnosis, CCA is typically associated with extensive infiltration of hilar structures often requiring extended liver and vascular resections that lead to technically complex biliary reconstructions and vascular anastomosis. The rationale behind such radical surgery is to ensure complete tumor resection, with negative margins at final pathology, which remains the only potential curative option. In this scenario, we report a case of advanced CCA, originating from the cysto-choledocal junction, encasing the extrahepatic course of the right hepatic artery (RHA) in which right PVA was carried out to obtain free tumor margins. Considering the technical impossibility to perform a right trisectionectomy due to inadequate future remnant liver (FRL) volume, PVA represented a turning point in the surgical planning of the case. The encouraging postoperative clinical outcomes suggest that PVA should be considered as a valid rescue option to preserve liver inflow in case of locally aggressive HPB malignancies that require extensive resection of the hepatic artery or its branches. This surgical technique can offer an efficient solution in those cases in which the RHA cannot be reconstructed due to its caliber or due to an early subdivision into the right sectorial branches.