Abstract

Surgical management of biliary cystadenoma and cystadenocarcinoma of the liver

Biliary cystadenoma (BCA) and biliary cystadenocar­cinoma (BCAC) are rare biliary duct neoplasms. This study investi­gated reasonable management strategies of cystic neoplasms in the liver. Charts of 39 BCA/BCAC patients (9 males, 30 female; median age 53.74 ± 14.50 years) who underwent surgery from January 1999 to December 2009 were reviewed retrospectively. Cyst fluid samples of 32 BCA/BCAC patients and 40 simple hepatic cyst patients were examined for the tumor markers carbohydrate associated antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). The most frequent symptoms were abdominal pain (N = 10), abdominal mass (N = 7), abdominal distension (N = 4), jaundice (N = 2), and fever (N = 3); the remaining patients showed no clinical symptoms. Liver resection (N = 17) or enucleation (N = 22) was performed in the 39 patients. Ul­timately, 35 patients were diagnosed with intrahepatic BCA and four patients were diagnosed with BCAC. The median CA19-9 level was significantly higher in BCA/BCAC patients than in simple hepatic cyst patients. The median CEA levels in BCA/BCAC patients and controls were 6.83 ± 2.43 and 4.21 ± 2.91 mg/L, respectively. All symptoms were resolved after surgery, and only one BCAC patient showed recur­rence. The incidence of intrahepatic cystic lesions was 1.7%. Increased CA19-9 levels in the cyst fluid is a helpful marker for distinguishing BCA/BCAC from common simple cysts. The presence of coarse cal­cifications is suggestive of BCAC. Complete surgical removal of these lesions yielded satisfying long-term outcomes with a very low recur­rence rate.

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