Year: 2012
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The liver is the most common site of malignant tumors in patients worldwide,\nincluding both primary (hepatocellular carcinoma) and metastatic liver cancer (eg\ncolorectal liver metastases). Complete resection or thermal ablation of all tumor\ndeposits currently offers the only potentially curative treatment for patients with a\nmalignancy of the liver.\nHistorically, the liver was considered an organ too fragile and prone to bleeding for\nelective surgery. Increasing insight in the hepatic vascular and biliary anatomy and\nthe introduction of antisepsis and anesthesia allowed pioneers like Langenbruch\nand Keene to start performing partial liver resections in the late nineteenth\ncentury1,2. Ongoing insight in the hepatic anatomy -like the division of the liver in\neight distinct anatomic segments by Couinaud- further encouraged surgeons to\nperform liver surgery for hepatic neoplasms3. However, until late in the twentieth\ncentury, the absence of any form of non-invasive diagnostic imaging severely\nhampered the application of liver resection at a large scale.
Author: Mark van Vledder
Language: English
Subfield: Hepatology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2114496911