The porta hepatis as a site of recurrence of mucinous appendiceal neoplasms treated by cytoreductive surgery and perioperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND A successful new treatment for a particular disease may change the natural history of that disease as patients go on to longer survival. The goal of this study was to investigate the porta hepatis as a site of recurrence of appendiceal mucinous neoplasms. METHODS A prospective database on patients with peritoneal dissemination of mucinous appendiceal neoplasms has been maintained for 21 years. In patients with complete cytoreduction, disease progression/recurrence in and around the porta hepatis has been noted as a new manifestation of this disease. RESULTS In 710 patients treated for mucinous appendiceal cancer with a complete cytoreduction, 140 developed recurrent disease. Seven patients (5%) had disease recurrence in and around the porta hepatis. Four of the seven had biliary obstruction and three had masses within the liver hilum not causing bile duct obstruction. Four of the seven patients were successfully palliated by surgical procedures within the liver and biliary tree. Two patients were successfully palliated using a biliary stent and one patient was not treated. CONCLUSIONS Progression of mucinous neoplasms within the porta hepatis may be related to imperfect cytoreduction technique. Reoperative surgical treatment and biliary stents were beneficial in some of these patients.