Laparoscopic liver surgery is a safe and effective approach to the management of surgical liver disease in the hands of trained surgeons with experience in hepatobiliary and laparoscopic surgery. National and international societies, as well as governing boards, should become involved in the goal of establishing training standards and credentialing, to ensure consistent standards and clinical outcomes.

Background & Aims-Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) recurs in approximately 70% of cases after resection. Vascular invasion by tumor cells can be classified as gross or microscopic (mVI) and is a risk factor for recurrence. We examined a large cohort of patients with HCC that were treated by resection to identify features of microvascular invasion that correlated with recurrence and survival.

This randomized prospective clinical trial failed to show a reduction in the number of deaths or complications with the addition of surgical intraperitoneal closed suction drainage after pancreatic resection. The data suggest that the presence of drains failed to reduce either the need for interventional radiologic drainage or surgical exploration for intraabdominal sepsis. Based on these results, closed suction drainage should not be considered mandatory or standard after pancreatic resection.

Asian series have shown 5 year survival of ∼70% after resection of hepatocellular cancer (HCC) <2cm. Western outcomes with resection have not been as good. In addition ablation of HCC ≤ 2cm has been shown to achieve competitive results leaving the role of resection unclear in these patients. Records of patients undergoing resection at two Western centers between 1/1990 and 12/2009 were reviewed. Patients with a single HCC ≤ 2cm on pathology were included. Thirty clinical variables including demographics, liver function, tumor characteristics, nature of the surgery, and the surrounding liver were examined. An exploratory statistical analysis was conducted to determine variables associated with recurrence and survival. The study included 132 patients with a median follow-up of 37.5 months. There was 1 (<1%) 90-day mortality. There were 32 deaths with a median survival of 74.5 months and 5-year survival of 70% (63% in cirrhotics). Median time-to-recurrence was 31.6 months and 5-year recurrence rate was 68%. Presence of satellites (HR=2.46, p=0.031) and platelet count <150,000/μl (HR=2.37, p=0.026) were independently associated with survival. Presence of satellites (HR=2.79, p=0.003), cirrhosis (HR=2.3, p=0.010), and non-anatomic resection (HR=1.79, p=0.031) were independently associated with recurrence. Patients with a single HCC ≤ 2cm and platelet count ≥150,000/μl achieved median and 5-year survivals of 138 months and 81%, respectively. Conclusion Resection of HCC ≤ 2cm is safe and achieves excellent results in Western centers. Recurrence continues to be a significant problem. Presence of satellites, platelet count, anatomic resection and cirrhosis are associated with outcomes after resection even among such early tumors. Resection should continue to be considered a primary treatment modality in patients with small HCC and well preserved liver function.

Mesothelioma is a malignancy of serosal membranes. It is most commonly encountered in the visceral pleura with the second most common location in the peritoneum. The diagnosis is very rare and has been linked to toxic exposure to industrial pollutants, especially asbestos. Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma (MPM) commonly presents with diffuse, extensive spread throughout the abdomen with rare metastatic spread beyond the abdominal cavity. Due to its rarity and nonspecific symptoms, it is usually diagnosed late when the disease burden is extensive. Because pleural mesothelioma is more common than MPM, most research has been on the pleural variant and extrapolated for MPM. While treatment advances have been made for MPM, the disease is universally fatal from either abdominal complications secondary to the spread of disease or starvation.Untreated, the life expectancy is less than a year. Cytoreductive surgery (CRS) with heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) has become the mainstay of therapy with systemic therapies still being developed. We will review the epidemiology of MPM and discuss diagnostic and treatment strategies.