External Validation and Optimization of the French Association of Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery and Transplantation's Score to Predict Severe Postoperative Biliary Leakage after Open or Laparoscopic Liver Resection.

BACKGROUND: Biliary leakage is a major contributor to morbidity after hepatectomy. A score to predict severe posthepatectomy biliary leakage (PHBL) was recently developed by the French Association of Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery and Transplantation (ACHBT). The aim of the study was to validate and optimize the score on an external cohort.

STUDY DESIGN: The ACHBT score uses 5 factors (blood loss, remnant ischemia, anatomic resection of segment 8, transection along right aspect of the left intersectional plane and associating liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy) to predict severe PHBL. The score was tested on an external cohort of patients undergoing hepatectomy without hepaticojejunostomy between 1994 and 2016 at a single center. Association between the score, pre- and intraoperative variables, and severe PHBL was assessed in an attempt to improve the score.

RESULTS: Among 778 procedures performed (including 679 [87.3%] laparoscopic and 260 [34.3%] major hepatectomies), 31 (4.0%) were complicated with severe PHBL. The ACHBT score showed good discrimination (AUROC [area under the receiver operating characteristic curve] 0.747, 95% CI 0.652 to 0.841), calibration and accuracy (diagnostic odds ratio for a score ≥1: 6.217 [95% CI 2.642 to 14.627], for a score ≥2: 6.059 [95% CI 2.858 to 12.846],and for a score ≥3: 9.589 [95% CI 2.868 to 32.066]). On multivariable analysis, the ACHBT score was the only predictor of severe PHBL. A model combining the ACHBT score and conversion to open surgery was significantly more discriminating than the ACHBT score alone (AUROC 0.790 [95% CI 0.711 to 0.870], Delong's test p = 0.002).

CONCLUSIONS: The ACHBT score represents an externally validated tool to predict severe PHBL. Inclusion of conversion to open surgery as an additional factor to the score allowed it to improve its performance to predict severe PHBL after laparoscopic hepatectomy.