This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on ISI (3)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Colon Cancer  • Surgical Oncology  • Prognosis/ Outcomes  • Hepatobiliary Surgery  • Gastrointestinal Diseases  • Alert me on articles by topic

Junzo Yamaguchi, MD; Ichiro Sakamoto, MD; Toshio Fukuda, MD; Hikaru Fujioka, MD; Kou Komuta, MD; Takashi Kanematsu, MD

Arch Surg. 2002;137:1294-1297.

Background  We recently reported that the pathologic mode of infiltrative growth (infiltrative [INF]-, INF-, and INF-) of colorectal liver metastases had characteristic morphologic findings, and furthermore showed that the INF type was a prognostic factor for disease-free survival after hepatic resection.

Hypothesis  Preoperative computed tomographic (CT) findings of the liver nodules may be predictive for pathologic tumor growth pattern.

Design  Retrospective study.

Setting  Departments of Surgery and Radiology at a university hospital in Japan.

Patients  A total of 25 CT examinations (1985-1998) were reviewed, and a comparison was conducted on CT findings of 2 groups with INF- or INF- (hereafter noted as INF--) (n = 9 [ie, a patient with INF- plus 8 with INF-]) and INF- (n = 16) type liver metastases.

Main Outcome Measures  ² Analysis of CT morphologic features was performed between the study groups. The result of multivariate analysis was obtained using the Cox proportional hazards model.

Results  The morphologic features observed by CT showed a significant difference between the 2 groups (INF--, and INF- types) in the ratio of length to breadth of nodules (<1.5 vs 1.5, P = .008) and in the outline of nodules (regular vs irregular, P = .01). Of these CT imaging features, the outline of the nodule was an independent prognostic factor (P = .02).

Conclusion  Computed tomographic findings of colorectal liver lesions correlated with the pathologic tumor growth pattern and a prognosis.

From the Departments of Surgery II (Drs Yamaguchi, Fujioka, Komuta, and Kanematsu) and Radiology (Drs Sakamoto and Fukuda), Nagasaki University School of Medicine, Nagasaki, Japan. Dr Yamaguchi is now with the Department of Surgery, National Saga Hospital, Saga, Japan.

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

The Clinical Risk Score: Emerging as a Reliable Preoperative Prognostic Index in Hepatectomy for Colorectal Metastases
Mann et al.
Arch Surg 2004;139:1168-1172.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Choice of Surveillance After Hepatectomy for Colorectal Metastases
Metcalfe et al.
Arch Surg 2004;139:749-754.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT