Key clinical point: Liver stiffness was a stronger predictor of symptomatic post-hepatectomy liver failure in HCC patients after major hepatectomy compared to CTP grade, and was significantly more effective for stratifying SPHLF risks in CTP grade A for both major and minor hepatectomy.
Major finding: Liver stiffness of 9.5 kPa or greater, as measured by measured by two-dimensional shear wave elastography, was superior to Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) grade for predicting symptomatic post-hepatectomy liver failure after major hepatectomy (72.4% vs 18.9%), although CTP was more effective at predicting liver failure after minor hepatectomy (100% vs 12.2%).
Study details: The data come from a review of 119 adults with HCC who underwent hepatectomy between August 2018 and July 2019; all patients underwent preoperative assessments for liver stiffness.
Disclosures: The study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the National Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province, and the State Key Project on Infectious Diseases of China. The researchers had no financial conflicts to disclose.
Source: Long H et al. Ann Surg Oncol. 2021 Aug 11. doi: 10.1245/s10434-021-10563-4.