Yukio Igarashi

Altered biliary bilirubin profile in patients with persistent hyperbilirubinaemia after hepatic resection: Analysis of bile bilirubin subfractions by high-performance liquid chromatography

Subfractions of bilirubin in bile, obtained via biliary drainage tubes from 23 patients who had undergone radical surgery for bile duct cancer, were analysed by high‐performance liquid chromatography for 14 days after surgery. Five principal conjugated bilirubins were resolved: bilirubin diglucuronide (BDG); bilirubin monoglucuronide monoglucoside (BGG); bilirubin monoglucuronide monoxyloside (BGX); and two isomers of bilirubin monoglucuronide. After surgery, depression in concentration of BDG and elevation of BGG and BGX were found. These alterations were of higher magnitude in patients who had undergone hepatectomy, and especially prolonged in patients with hyperbilirubinaemia. These results suggest that the alteration in proportions of bilirubin conjugates might be a cause of hyperbilirubinaemia after hepatectomy.

Microsurgical technique used in right anterior segmentectomy and pancreatoduodenectomy with reconstruction of the right posterior hepatic artery for widespread bile duct cancer involving the hepatic hilus

A microsurgical technique was used in performing anterior hepatic segmentectomy and pancreatoduodenectomy with reconstruction of the posterior hepatic artery in a 64-year-old man with widespread bile duct cancer from the intrapancreatic bile duct over the hepatic hilus. The anterior hepatic artery was obviously involved and the posterior hepatic artery just behind common hepatic duct was very close to the cancer. Microsurgical anastomosis between the remnant gastroduodenal artery and the posterior hepatic artery at the hepatic hilus made it possible to preserve the posterior segment of the liver and to perform a curative resection of the cancer. The patient had pyrexia because of suprahepatic abscess after the operation, but the abscess drained spontaneously. Postoperative arteriogram showed neither obstruction nor kinking of the reconstructed artery. He was discharged 2 months after surgery and has been enjoying a normal quality of life for 10 months since, with no signs of recurrence. It is suggested that a microsurgical technique is useful for performing an accurate anastomosis with good patency that allows not only a safe but also a highly curative operation for advanced bile duct cancer.