Choice of approach for hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma located in the caudate lobe: Isolated or combined lobectomy?

Table 1 Patient characteristics

	Isolated caudate lobectomy group (n = 16)	Combined caudate lobectomy group (n = 20)	P value
Age (yr)	51 ± 14	48 ± 17	NS
Gender			NS
Male	12	15
Female	4	5
Liver cirrhosis			NS
Present	10	14
Absent	6	6
Child-Pugh class			NS
A	14	17
B	2	3
Liver function
Albumin (g/dL)1	2.9	3.5	0.03
ALT (IU/L)1	54	32	0.04
Total bilirubin (mg/dL)1	1.2	0.8	0.04
Prothrombin time (%)1	75	79	NS
Location of the tumor			NS
Spiegel	2	3
Paracaval portion	2	3
Caudate process	1	2
Spiegel + paracaval portion	3	4
Paracaval portion + caudate process	3	2
Complete caudate lobe	5	6
Surgical margin (mm)			0.04
< 5 mm	5	1
≥ 5 mm	11	19
α-Fetoprotein (ng/mL)1	23	25
Cancer spread2			NS
Positive	3	5
Negative	13	15
Differentiation of tumor			NS
Edmondson I	1	1
Edmondson II	5	4
Edmondson III	10	14
Edmondson IV	0	1
Tumor size, median (range), cm	6.1 (2.1-13.4)	7.5 (2.3-15.8)	NS

¹Median;

²Cancer spread was defined by presence of microscopic vascular invasion and/or intrahepatic metastasis. ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; NS: Not significant.