OBJECTIVETo sum up author's experience and to define the role of partial hepatectomy with skeletonization resection in the treatment of hilar cholangiocarcinoma.

METHODSBetween January 1999 and December 2001, 67 patients underwent exploration in our hospital. The clinical records of these patients were reviewed.

RESULTSSixty-five (97%) patients underwent surgical resection. Forty-nine patients (73%) had curative resection [22 skeletonization resection (SR), and the other 27 undergone SR combined with partial hepatectomy]. According to the Bismuth-Corlett classification, tumors were classified into four types. SR was performed in type I (5 cases) and type II (17 cases). Right lobectomy with right caudate lobectomy was performed in type IIIa (6 cases), left lobectomy with left caudate lobectomy in type IIIb (15 cases). Right lobectomy with whole caudate lobectomy (3 cases), left lobectomy with whole caudate lobectomy (9 cases), and quadrate lobectomy (2 cases) were undertaken in type IV. We successfully did SR and left lobectomy with whole caudate lobectomy in 2 patients (3%) who had suffered palliative biliary cancer resection and cholangiojejunostomy before. Eight patients (12%) had local resection of the tumor with Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy reconstruction and intrahepatic bile ducts support. Two patients (3%) had palliative biliary drainage. Combined portal vein resection was performed in 13 (20%) patients and hepatic artery resection in 27 (40.3%). Twenty-four (35.8%) patients had no postoperative complications, and 20 (30.2%) patients developed major complications. Of the 20 patients with major complications 14 recovered; the remaining 6 patients died of liver-renal failure with other organ failure or of heart attack, intraabdominal bleeding, and gastrointestinal bleeding in 7, 12, 14, 42, 57, or 89 days after surgery. Thirty days operative mortality was 4.5%. The median survival of patients with curative resection was 16 months (ranging from 1 to 41 months), while the median survival with palliative operation was 7 months (ranging from 1 to 16 months).

CONCLUSIONSPartial hepatectomy with skeletonization resection for hilar cholangiocarcinoma can be performed with acceptable morbidity and mortality. For curative treatment of hilar cholangiocarcinoma, Caudate lobectomy is always recommended in Bismuth type III/IV.