Surgical Strategy Based on Indocyanine Green Test for Chemotherapy-Associated Liver Injury and Long-Term Outcome in Colorectal Liver Metastases.

BACKGROUND: It remains unclear whether the presence of chemotherapy-induced liver injury (CALI) or impaired liver functional reserve affects the long-term outcome. This study assessed the applicability and long-term effects of using criteria based on the indocyanine green (ICG) test results in selecting the operative procedure among patients with colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) who had a risk of CALI.

STUDY DESIGN: CRLM patients who received preoperative chemotherapy including oxaliplatin and/or irinotecan prior to a curative hepatectomy between 2007 and 2017 were included. For each case, the minimum required future remnant liver volume and operative procedure were decided based on the ICG retention rate at 15 min (ICG R15). Patients with an ICG R15 > 10% and who had undergone a major hepatectomy were categorized in a marginal liver functional reserve (MHML) group.

RESULTS: Overall, 161 patients were included; 77 of them had an ICG R15 > 10%, and 57 had pathological liver injury (PLI). After the median follow-up time of 30.9 months, the 5-year overall survival rate was 36.1%. The presence of an impaired ICG test result or CALI did not negatively impact the overall and recurrence-free survival outcomes. A multivariate analysis revealed that the presence of four or more nodules of liver metastases was the only independent predictor of a poor overall survival. A significantly larger proportion of patients in the MHML group (n = 37) had a 25% or larger increase in splenic volume (30 vs. 13%; P = 0.024).

CONCLUSION: The presence of an impaired ICG test result or PLI did not affect the long-term outcome after individually selected operative procedure. However, patients undergoing MHML had a higher possibility of developing a > 25% splenic volume increase after hepatectomy.