Liver malignancy is known to be associated with hepatolithiasis. The present report summarises the results and our experience for management of 23 patients with intrahepatic hepatolithiasis associated cholangiocarcinoma (IHHCC). The correct diagnosis rates of US (ultrasonography), CT (computed tomography), and MRCP (magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography) were 82.6% (19/23), 95.7% (22/23), and 91.7% (11/12), respectively. Carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9) was helpful in the diagnosis of IHHCC. All 23 patients with IHHCC underwent laparotomy. The surgical procedure consisted hepatectomy with a bile duct exploration in 16 patients (69.6%), a hepatectomy and drainage procedure such as sphincteroplasty and choledo-jejunostomy in three patients (13.0%), a bile duct exploration with biopsy in two patients (8.7%), and simple laparotomy and biopsy in two patients (8.7%). All the IHHCC patients who underwent a palliative procedure or laparotomy died within 1 year, and the overall cumulative survival rates at 1, 3, and 5 years were 43.8% (10/23), 13.0% (3/23), and 4.3% (1/23), respectively, and those patients who underwent curative resection were 88.9% (8/9), 33.3% (3/9), and 11.1% (1/9), respectively, which significantly longer than those (20.0%, 2/10; 0.0%, 0/10; and 0.0%, 0/10) patients who underwent palliative resection, respectively (p < 0.05). A suspicion of malignancy is necessary when managing patients with long-term hepatolithiasis. Hepatic resection with postoperative treatment is the treatment of choice for cholangiocarcinoma when it is resectable.

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Since the first publication on the new anastomosis technique using a biofragmentable anastomosis ring (BAR) by Hardy in 1985, various studies have been performed to investigate the superiority of this type of anastomosis, and it has since been reported that the BAR was safely used not only in large and small bowel anastomosis, but in cholecystojejunal and gastrojejunal anastomosis as well. In this study, the feasibility of the BAR for esophageal transection was investigated. Seven dogs were operated on, and one died of intraabdominal bleeding on the operative day while another died of leakage at the site of gastrotomy on the 3rd postoperative day. These deaths were all considered to be due to simple technical errors not directly related to the use of the BAR. The postoperative recovery of the other five dogs was uneventful, and the ring eventually disintegrated into several small fragments that passed out of the body in the faces between the 14th and 21st postoperative days. The dogs were killed on the 28th postoperative day, and both gross and histological examinations, revealed that the transection had been successful. Neither leakage nor significant stenosis at the site of transection was found. Our results suggested that the BAR could be used for esophageal transection and is thus recommended as an easy-to-learn, time-saving, and safe technique for esophageal operations.