Background: Hepatolithiasis is a prevalent disease in Asia but rare in Western countries. An increasing number of cases have been reported in Latin America. Liver resection has been proposed as a definitive treatment for complete stone clearance. The aim of this study was to evaluate the postoperative outcomes of liver resection for the treatment of hepatolithiasis in 2 large hepatobiliary reference centers from South America.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective descriptive analysis from patients with hepatolithiasis who underwent liver resection between November 1986 and December 2018, in 2 Latin-American centers in Chile and Brazil.
Results: One hundred forty-nine patients underwent liver resection for hepatolithiasis (72 in Chile, 77 in Brazil). The mean age was 49 years and most patients were female (62.4%). Hepatolithiasis was localized in the left lobe (61.7%), right lobe (24.2%), and bilateral lobe (14.1%). Bilateral lithiasis was associated with higher incidence of preoperative and postoperative cholangitis (81% vs 46.9% and 28.6% vs 6.1%) and need for hepaticojejunostomy (52.4%). In total, 38.9% of patients underwent major hepatectomy and 14.1% were laparoscopic. The postoperative stone clearance was 100%. The 30-day morbidity and mortality rates were 30.9% and 0.7%, respectively. Cholangiocarcinoma was seen in 2 specimens, and no postoperative malignancy were seen after a median follow-up of 38 months. Fourteen patients (9.4%) had intrahepatic stones recurrence.
Conclusions: Liver resection is an effective and definitive treatment for patients with hepatolithiasis. Bilateral hepatolithiasis was associated with perioperative cholangitis, the need for hepaticojejunostomy, and recurrent disease. Resection presents a high rate of biliary tree stone clearance and excellent long-term results, with low recurrence rates and low risk of malignancy.
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