Prognostic risk factors in 113 patients undergoing cephalic duodenopancreatectomy for distal cholangiocarcinoma.

Introduction: Distal cholangiocarcinoma is a malignant epithelial neoplasia that affects the extrahepatic bile ducts, below the cystic duct. No relevant relationship between perioperative factors and worse long-term outcome has been proved.

Objective: To analyze the risk factors for mortality and long-term recurrence of distal cholangiocarcinoma in resected patients.

Materials And Methods: A single-center prospective database of patients operated on for distal cholangiocarcinoma between 1990 and 2021 was analyzed in order to investigate mortality and recurrence factors.

Results: One hundred and thirteen patients have undergone surgery, with mean actuarial survival of 100.2 (76-124) months after resection. The bivariate study did not show differences between patients depending on age or preoperative variables studied. When multivariate analysis was performed, the presence of affected adenopathy was a risk factor for long-term mortality. The presence of affected lymph nodes, tumor recurrence, and biliary fistula during the postoperative period implied worse actuarial survival when comparing the Kaplan-Meier curves.

Conclusions: The presence of affected lymph nodes influence the prognosis of the disease. The occurrence of biliary fistula during postoperative cholangiocarcinoma distal could aggravate long-term outcomes, a finding that should be reaffirmed in future studies.