Orthotopic liver transplantation for inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor of the liver hilum

Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor is a rare gastrointestinal neoplasm. The authors report the case of a 5-year-old girl who initially presented with gastric outlet obstruction secondary to an inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor along the lesser gastric curvature. A subtotal gastrectomy and wedge resection of a left hepatic lobe nodule were per formed. Obstructive jaundice developed one month postoperatively. Computerized tomography, percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography, and selective celiac and mesenteric arteriography showed a mass that involved the left hepatic robe, with concomitant high-grade biliary obstruction and portal venous encasement. Percutaneous biliary drainage was performed. During laparotorny, the tumor was found to be unresectable, and the patient was referred to the Liver Transplant Service at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. A total hepatectomy with temporary portocaval shunt was performed, leaving the inferior vena cava in situ. At the back table, an ex vivo left trisegmentectomy was performed, followed by reimplantation of the posterior segment of the right hepatic robe. The reimplanted liver segment functioned poorly, and completion hepatectomy with portocaval shunt was performed 24 hours postoperatively, because of severe coagulopathy, intraabdominal bleeding, and hemodynamic instability. The patient's condition stabilized, and she was listed for urgent liver transplantation. The anhepatic state was managed with intermittent plasmapheresis. She had transplantation 72 hours later, and was discharged from the hospital 3 weeks postoperatively after an uneventful recovery. She remains disease-free and has normal liver function 8 months after transplantation. Copyright (C) 1996 by W.B. Saunders Company